TAUNTON, Mass. — Taunton police are searching for the killer of a 23-year-old woman who was "stabbed or slashed" in her own apartment Monday, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.
Vanessa Courtney's fiancée, Nikki Clarke, told FOX25 she came home from work on Monday around 5:45 p.m., and found Courtney's body in their Morton Street apartment. The door was unlocked, she said, atypical for Courtney.
"As soon as I opened it, I (saw) her lying there on the floor in the bedroom," Clarke said. "She never showed up to bring my lunch to me, and I already knew that it wasn't right. I already knew."
Clarke said she last spoke to Courtney on Monday morning.
The district attorney's office said Courtney's death is considered a homicide, and no arrest has been made. Detectives spent all evening and into Tuesday afternoon investigating the scene.
Clarke said she has no idea who would have wanted to hurt her fiancée.
"I don't know," Clarke said. "She was amazing. An absolutely amazing person. And everybody loved her."
Friends left flowers, candles, and balloons at a makeshift memorial in front of Courtney's home, honoring the young barber and dog lover.
Courtney and Clarke were raising a 5-year-old son together. Clarke said she almost picked him up from school and brought him home with her before she found Courtney.
"I was going to pick up my son before I even came home," Clarke said, "and then I would've walked into this house with my child."
Clarke's mother, Sheri Ramos, comforted her outside the growing memorial Tuesday night.
"Somebody will come find who did this to Vanessa. I know God is with us," Ramos said, through tears. "Justice will be served, and we will not stop until it is."