Three Years Ago Today, 18-year-old Jennika Lee Suazo Was Found Dead; Family Awaits Justice

JENNIKA.LEE.SUAZO

[Composite image using family photo and photo by Mark McKenna of those gathered for her candlelight vigil.]

Three years ago today, 18-year-old Jennika Lee Suazo was found dead in her home on P Street in Eureka. She was last seen on December 8, 2016. After the cause of death was determined to be asphyxia, the Eureka Police began investigating her death as a homicide.

Her mother, Jennie Lee Seipp, told us how hard it is to wait for news of movement in solving her daughter’s death. “Its coming on [three] years of her horrible passing…still no news from E.P.D. or Department of Justice.”

Eureka Police spokesperson Brittany Powell told us Saturday, “We are working with the Department of Justice on forensic and DNA evidence. Once all of the evidence has been evaluated and all results are received, we will follow up with any new leads and present the report to the District Attorney’s Office for review and recommendations.”

Powell said that solving Suazo’s homicide has required thorough police work. “The Eureka Police Department is working diligently to resolve this investigation and bring Jennika’s killer to justice,” she said in a prepared statement. “Working through investigations where there were no eye witnesses or other immediate identifying suspect information are time consuming and require a level of thoroughness above and beyond most investigations to ensure a case can be filed and prosecuted in front of a jury.”

If anyone has information, EPD asks them to contact Senior Detective Cosetti at  [email protected].

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56 Comments
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John
Guest
John
4 years ago

Why does it take over three years to evaluate the evidence ?

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
4 years ago
Reply to  John

Racism

Charlie
Guest
Charlie
4 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

Get off the crack she’s white as me…

Canyon oak
Guest
Canyon oak
4 years ago
Reply to  Charlie

I think you missed what may have been satirical innuendo, and a reference to the Lawson case.
And just a reminder to skin tone haters: a persons skin color doesn’t always tell you who they are.
I have a bi-racial half sister who is paler than me, but her dad was black.
All that reveals is some heavy freckling on her face.

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
4 years ago
Reply to  John

You haven’t heard of the rape kit backlog before?

Not that it’s right or acceptable, but it’s how things are.

Craig
Guest
Craig
4 years ago

I’m still waiting for someone to find Karen Mitchell, with it going on for over 22 years now.

sam
Guest
sam
4 years ago
Reply to  Craig

Even farther back in the eighties there was a disabled guy that like to talk to truckers that disappeared and also never found.
With crimes, often they can not be solved or proven…..sad…..

Buster
Guest
Buster
4 years ago
Reply to  sam

Not sure if you are insinuating this but isn’t that around the same time as the serial killer trucker (from Arcata or maybe Trinidad? ) who was dismembering young woman?

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
4 years ago
Reply to  Buster

Wayne Adam Ford. He really stuck to women, I don’t think he would have been involved with the man in question.

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
4 years ago
Reply to  Craig

Half of me hopes it really was Robert Durst who killed her, just so we can all have some closure knowing he’s in jail.

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago
Reply to  No Joke

Anthony Lee Hamilton, her mother’s boyfriend and roommate killed her, he lived with Jennika and her mother at the time, he currently is in Del Norte County jail for shooting a Del Norte County sheriff in a high speed car chase.

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago

I am Jennika’s aunt and my husband Jon Japport and I raised Jennika from 2009-2011, until her mom moved her in that “clean and sober house”.

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
4 years ago

I was referring to the Karen Mitchell case, not this one. It’s considered a possibility that Karen Mitchell was murdered by Robert Durst, who is probably a serial killer.

Were Jennika, her mother, and her mother’s boyfriend all living in that same sober living house?

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago
Reply to  No Joke

Yes, her mother Jennie is my younger sister. My husband, Jon Japport and I raised Jennika from 2009-2011, until her mother moved her into that house in June of 2011, her mother Jennie had been together as a couple and living with Anthony Lee Hamilton while my husband and I had Jennika.

Toinette Watson
Guest
Toinette Watson
4 years ago

I 100% agree!!!

Doggo
Guest
Doggo
4 years ago
Reply to  Craig

Humboldt county just forgets about women

Guest
Guest
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Doggo

Doggo,
Sad to say that’s true.

"I killed them all" [fart]-[pooping]
Guest
"I killed them all" [fart]-[pooping]
4 years ago
Reply to  Craig

you can watch “the Jinx” from HBO on youtube about Robert Durst, who owned a house up here in trinidad. Theres footy of the old Garberville payphones! I recommend watching the whole thing.You will understand some inside (NY) jokes from Fred Armison in New Girl.
But if you don’t have time there are videos of just the last 5 min. of the series, where Durst makes an ‘explosive’ confession on a hot mike.

Kay Y
Guest
Kay Y
4 years ago

Peace to her family, hope this let’s some people know it ain’t just the Lawson case going unsolved.

J
Guest
J
4 years ago
Reply to  Kay Y

Right? And this young lady wasn’t engaged in violently assaulting someone with her friends. Justice doesn’t always come, even when the victim is innocent.

Its sad their taking so long, hopefully it means there just watching for a match on the already processed DNA.

Jazz
Guest
Jazz
4 years ago
Reply to  Kay Y

The difference between this and the Lawson case is that there were dozens of witnesses and APD didn’t utilize their resources to find out what happened when it happened. There’s a lot more to that case, and the two shouldn’t be compared.

Doggo
Guest
Doggo
4 years ago
Reply to  Jazz

The comparison is about the ongoing and never improving incompetence of police agencies in this county to investigate murder. If it is not readily apparent and requires brain work to find the culprit, we are shit out of luck.

J
Guest
J
4 years ago
Reply to  Jazz

There was also dozens of people near Jenikas body. There was the same number of people who witnessed who murdered these young people, zero. We’re comparing 2 teens murdered during a small time span, that’s a logical comparison to me. One mother harassed the entire county and forced them to focus their resources on her and the other mother understood that there’s a lot of murders in this county and didn’t blame the entire county for racism or harrass people in parking lots. and yes the fact that there were two murders of teens in a short time span and one of the teens was engage in hurting someone with his friends and the one who was assaulting someone violently gets more press and more resources while the mom is telling the entire county we are racist is a big deal to me and a valid comparison.

Jennifer Cain
Guest
Jennifer Cain
4 years ago

Its so hard as a family member to sit and wait….. Wait till when???? Im mean, how long does it take , REALLY? Her mother (my cousin) needs closure… We as a family need closure…. This is truly hard….. Thank you kym kemp for caring enough to not forget Jennika Suazo. The EPD has…. I want JUSTICE for her. She didnt deserve this and neither does her mother.

Hattie
Guest
Hattie
4 years ago

It’s so sad and just absolutely ridiculous it is taking them so long to figure this out!! I pray for my sister jennie and the rest of our family to get justice for my sweet niece jennika… #justice4jennika

Ummmmmm
Guest
Ummmmmm
4 years ago

So sad! Per past link, EPD said 22 people were residing at the residence. What? Somebody had to of seen or heard something

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

Makes me really wonder about most of the “sober living homes” out there. 23 people including the victim under one roof? How many “staff” were there? What else was going on that no one saw?

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago
Reply to  No Joke

Anthony Lee Hamilton, the mother’s boyfriend, who lived with them at the time of Jennika’s murder, he is currently in the Del Norte County jail for shooting a Del Norte County sheriff, not for Jennika’s murder. I am Jennika’s aunt and my husband Jon Japport and I raised Jennika from 2009-2011, until her mom moved her in that “clean and sober house”.

Steve Parr
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

“Somebody had to of seen or heard something…”

Kind of sounds like the Lawson case…

Ummmmmm
Guest
Ummmmmm
4 years ago
Reply to  Steve Parr

Nothing like the Lawson case. She wasn’t stabbed to death, she wasn’t at a coke party, she wasn’t jumped.
She went home and felt safe at a place she called home with 22 other persons. Unless they were all on coke and she lost her phone, still doesn’t fit your narrative. She was strangled by one of 22 junkies in a halfway house. You’re comparison deserves a Fuck You

lauracooskey
Guest
lauracooskey
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

Anger management is available.
Reading comprehension is desirable.
I think the commenter was remarking on the single similarity of there being an excellent chance of witnesses, or even more likely in this case, someone who heard or knows something first-hand but is not stepping forward.
And that’s likely true.

Steve Parr
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

Ummmm…sounds like your version of the Lawson case is nothing like the Lawson case, either.

Lawson wasn’t, “jumped,” either. He was one of the, “jumpers.”

Toinette Watson
Guest
Toinette Watson
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

In my opinion it was her mother’s boyfriend!!

Dog
Guest
Dog
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

She didn’t feel safe. Jennika repeatedly told people she was afraid of her mom’s boyfriend and worried he would hurt her there. She was found dead stuffed in a closet with her mouth stuffed with socks right after that.

Boom
Guest
Boom
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

The police and the family know who did it. And they know why. Several people have told them. They just can’t arrest the person without enough tangible evidence to have a good chance at conviction.

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago
Reply to  Boom

Anthony Lee Hamilton, the mother’s boyfriend did it, who lived with them at the time of Jennika’s murder, he is currently in the Del Norte County jail for shooting a Del Norte County sheriff, not for Jennika’s murder. I am Jennika’s aunt and my husband Jon Japport and I raised Jennika from 2009-2011, until her mom moved her in that “clean and sober house”. #JusticeforJennika

Ummmmmm
Guest
Ummmmmm
4 years ago
Reply to  Boom

If what you say is true, their are other avenues of justice, they might not be legal, but who cares at this point.
If the law fails you , I won’t. Contact me

Steve Parr
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

I’d think twice about hiring a hit man off a comment section on an internet news site.

Government Cheese
Guest
Government Cheese
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

That’s my theory ummmmm.
“When the system fails you, create your own system.” Large pelican cases work, air tight and undetected with metal detectors and dogs. Crab pot with no buoy works very well also.( make sure you tip the boat captain well). If you use a gun, change your barrel and pick up your brass.ALWAYS wear gloves. Good luck

John
Guest
John
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

I don’t think you will do a damn thing. #internettoughguy

Ummmmmm
Guest
Ummmmmm
4 years ago
Reply to  Boom

Exactly! A lot of persons , even law enforcement believe they know who did it. It’s not what you know, It’s what you can prove.

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

Anthony Lee Hamilton, the mother’s boyfriend, who lived with them at the time of Jennika’s murder, he is currently in the Del Norte County jail for shooting a Del Norte County sheriff, not for Jennika’s murder. I am Jennika’s aunt and my husband Jon Japport and I raised Jennika from 2009-2011, until her mom moved her in that “clean and sober house”. #JusticeforJennika

Ummmmmm
Guest
Ummmmmm
4 years ago

My condolences.
DNA does not lie
I hope you get justice and closure

Bonnie Seipp-Japport
Guest
Bonnie Seipp-Japport
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

Thank you, YES please God! #JusticeforJennika

Mr. Bear
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Ummmmmm

DNA does not lie but DNA evidence can easily be misinterpreted and misunderstood.

There are many examples of innocent people getting tagged with erroneous DNA evidence. It can and does happen

For sure
Guest
For sure
4 years ago

And never forget our dear Stephanie Gawboy- prayers to all.

😢
Guest
😢
4 years ago
Reply to  For sure

Justice for Stephanie Gawboy! She’d give her last cent to help others. Such a loss to this community!

Sohumble
Guest
Sohumble
4 years ago
Reply to  For sure

Rest in peace Stephanie. ❤️ I think about her still.

SmallFry
Guest
SmallFry
4 years ago
Reply to  For sure

Very sad! Justice for Stefinie Gawboy! Meditating on truth, light, and justice being served for Stefinie, JENNIKA LEE SUAZO, Josiah + others! Healing thoughts for families and friends!

Elijah Diddit
Guest
Elijah Diddit
4 years ago

Maybe her family should have told the press Jennika was black, so everyone would be outraged and working hard to bring the actual murderer to justice like they did with david lawson……oh wait. They’re still waiting for a white suspect.

Justice here is a fucking joke.

Ummmmmm
Guest
Ummmmmm
4 years ago
Reply to  Elijah Diddit

Facepalm

Shame
Guest
Shame
4 years ago

Justice for Jennika.
Justice for Ben Taggart.
Justice for Josiah.

I’m a J4J supporter – but I haven’t forgotten the unsolved murders of Young People who have gone while I’ve lived here. We stand with you.
Thank you for posting this update.
My deepest condolences to her loved ones and family, words can’t describe what you have been through.

So tragic and so confusing that these cases with leads go unresolved while family’s suffer.

DNA evidence should be enough to indict someone.

Guest
Guest
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Shame

DNA evidence that could mean nothing but incidental contamination? There has to be a link between the DNA and how it got there. If a person is indicted when that can not be proven, they will be found not guilty and never again brought to trial no matter what further evidence might be developed.

Justice for Bo
Guest
Justice for Bo
4 years ago

Justice for Bo Triantos. His alleged killer Brandon Watson is in jail awaiting trial in April. Let’s hope the DAs office does their job and makes sure this violent punk goes to prison for this murder

Truth
Guest
Truth
4 years ago

We need a new DA!

A
Guest
A
3 years ago

i lived at that same sober living house with my dad a couple months before jennika was murdered and i am fairly confident it was [edit] who murdered her. he was always violent and starting fights. he was very violent to jennika too and also very perverted towards her. i was only 13 so i just thought he was a jerk. but now that i am old enough to understand i remember jennika was always afraid of him and was terrified he was going to hurt her. he scared me and my brother so we tried to stay away from him. i am positive it was him because no one but him would ever even think of hurting jennika. she was a friend to everyone and everybody at the house when i lived there loved her. except for him, he is a disgusting perv and needs to be brought to justice. jennika deserves justice!