Neighbor Shares Experience of Finding OKC Homicide Victim's Body

Police spent Friday investigating a homicide in northwest Oklahoma City.

News 9 spoke exclusively with one of the women who found the body.

5/18/2012 Related Story: Police Investigate Homicide After Woman's Body Found In NW OKC

The body was found inside a unit on the second floor of the Ridgeview apartment complex at 7801 Lyrewood Lane in Oklahoma City. A family member and neighbor discovered the body shortly before police were called. As of late Friday, police were still looking for a suspect in the case.

Police kept busy for more than seven hours trying to learn more about 50-year-old Janica Shoals' final moments.

"I'd just seen her laying (sic) on her floor bent over," a neighbor who asked not to be identified told News 9. "I thought she was just sick."

The neighbor was the second person inside the apartment after Shoals' daughter discovered her mom's body.

"[The daughter] screamed bloody murder, and I woke up to that noise," the neighbor said. "I felt [Shoals], and she was gone. She must have been gone for several hours for her to be that cold."

Police arrived shortly after 10 a.m. and found trauma on Shoals' body. Crime scene investigators spent most of the day inside Shoals' unit looking for clues to pinpoint a suspect.

Neighbors say they weren't surprised to see the crime scene truck and yellow tape. They say crime is all too familiar the neighborhood.

"The neighborhood is not very good over here," resident Jesica Lewis said. "There's a lot of shootings and stuff that happen."

Some people in the area say they are ready to move.

"I'm ready to pack up and go somewhere else and hide out," neighbor Natasha Smith said.

Police need the public's help in finding a suspect. If you have any information, call the homicide tip line at (405)-297-1200.

This marks the 37^th homicide in Oklahoma City for 2012.