Five days after Lubbock County Sheriff’s discovered the body of 18 year-old Holli Jeffcoat stabbed in her home, Holli’s friends and community members are waiting anxiously for answers about her death.
Some information has been revealed through the search warrant involving Holli’s case, indicating that Holli had been a victim of sexual abuse in 2008 and again in January of 2016. But many details about why Holli was left dead remain unknown, which is disturbing for people like Samantha Hinojos who knew Holli.
Hinojos is the same age as Holli and junior at Lorenzo High School where Holli attended school. With no arrests made yet on suspects involved with Holli’s death Hinojos is afraid for her own safety in Lorenzo and Idalou.
“You feel like somebody’s there and you turn around and there’s nobody there, and you have that feeling that they did that to some innocent person, they’re gonna go do that to some other innocent person,” Hinojos said.
She explained that she heard the news of Holli’s death from a family member who was very close with Holli.
“When I got home, all I knew was it was an 18-year-old in Idalou, I didn’t know details, and I called [a family member], and she said ‘You remember Holli?’ and I said, ‘Of course I remember Holli, she’s the one with the contagious laughter and beautiful smile, ‘ then she said, ‘She’s the one they’re talking about,’ and I said, ‘Let me call you back,’ and I went and I bawled, I cried,” Hinojos said.
Hinojos explained that Holli was in the special needs program at Lorenzo High, so while Holli was in separate classes from her, she would often say hello to Holli at lunch. She said she will remember Holli for her school spirit and positive attitude.
“It was that constant beautiful smile that we’d see so much and we’d miss forever`forever,” she said of Holli.
Hinojos said that that many people around Lorenzo and Idalou have been talking about Holli’s death, speculating about what could have happened.
Hinojos isn’t making any assumptions, she’s waiting for the results of the investigation.
“I hope they find justice for her family, and that the punishment they do for this person [who committed the crime], that they live with it for the rest of their lives,” Hinojos said. “Whoever did this robbed everybody from getting to know a really wonderful person.”
