Advertisement New photos released in 1996 cold case homicide Jody LeCornu fatally shot in Towson Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The 1996 unsolved slaying of Towson University student Jody LeCornu still haunts her family and police.LeCornu's sister, Jenny Carrieri, is traveling a difficult path in search of truth and justice."Twenty years, I don't know. It has really been a struggle for me," Carrieri said.LeCornu was sitting in her car on March 2, 1996, just around the corner from her Towson home, when someone killed her. She died from a single gunshot wound to the back. The motive and the killer remain a mystery.For the first time, Baltimore County police are releasing snowy crime scene photos. One photo shows how the bullet traveled through LeCornu's seat.Carrieri said going to the crime scene is nerve-wracking but worthwhile. She hopes revisiting the cold case will spark some new leads for police."We so badly want to find out. Even after all these years, it still breaks my heart," Carrieri said.The sisters shared a bond that began in their mother's womb. They were twins born two minutes apart."We were inseparable," Carrieri said. "My dad called her like a sunbeam. She was such a great person, and she had a lot of friends. Everybody loved her. Growing up, it is just like having your best friend around all the time."Hours before the homicide, police said LeCornu visited the Mount Washington Tavern. She left to buy beer at a liquor store on Falls Road. Neither police nor her family know why she stopped at what's now the Drumcastle Government Center parking lot."At some point when she was sitting in that parking lot, the suspect approached the car. We don't know how long he was there. We don't know what kind of interaction or (if) any interaction happened between the two," Baltimore County police Cpl. John Wachter said.The suspect was described as a black man who is 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 200 to 220 pounds. He was described as wearing a green fatigue-style coat. He would now be in his mid-40s to early 50s.For the first time, police released a photo of a white BMW that they said is similar to the model the suspect drove."He fired a single shot into the car, struck her in the back. After being shot, she managed to drive her car out of the parking lot across York Road to the parking lot where the Giant is located," Wachter said."I tried to call her that morning. I couldn't get a hold of her," Carrieri said.Later that day Carrieri, got a call she never expected."It was actually (on) my parents' wedding anniversary that she had been shot," Carrieri said."After the vehicle stopped, the suspect who followed her over there approached the car, reached in, may have put it in park, but definitely took something out of that car," Wachter said. "When he was finished, he got into a white BMW, exited the parking lot southbound on York Road and turned left onto Walker Avenue."Police recovered fingerprints from LeCornu's car. They are in the process of running them through the system again.When asked why this case has been so hard to resolve, Wachter said, "It would be like trying to put together a giant puzzle. There are a lot of different pieces that you have to put together to get to the end.""Just think, she will never meet my children. All these years, what would it have been like with her here," Carrieri said.The LeCornu family, friends, neighbors and colleagues teamed up with Metro Crime Stoppers. Thanks to them, the cash reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible is now $32,000. Anyone with information is urged to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 410-276-8888.Get the WBAL-TV News App