'I just don't understand why': Indy mother describes finding daughter murdered, suspect's arrest 7 w

INDIANAPOLIS - With a suspect finally behind bars, a grieving mother feels one step closer to getting justice after finding her daughter murdered on June 26.




Danielle Dehoniesto went to check on 27-year-old Kamora Woods at her northwest side apartment on Maidstone Road after neither she nor Woods' friends could reach her. The door was unlocked, and Dehoniesto said the scene inside was something no parent should ever have to walk into.




"I will never get that image out of my head," Dehoniesto said. "I touched her, I said, 'Kamora.' When I touched her, she was cold. She was stiff."




Dehoniesto found Woods half-naked in her bedroom, shot in the head. She then waited seven weeks for an arrest.




Court documents detail how detectives identified a suspect by using a fingerprint on a condom wrapper collected at the scene. It matched 23-year-old James Wallace, a convicted felon with an active warrant for allegedly tampering with his GPS monitor in November.

Security video from the Scarborough Lake Apartments showed a woman getting out of Woods' car and entering her building at 2:14 p.m. on June 25, according to court documents. At 2:41, another vehicle entered the property, later discovered to be a Lyft ride, and dropped off a man believed to be Wallace. But only 17 minutes after the man was seen entering the building, he walked back out and left the complex alone.

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"I just don't understand why," Dehoniesto said. "What was so bad to where you had to kill my child?"




Investigators said Wallace had also pawned the victim's cell phone. When they brought him in for questioning, he said he didn't want her to call for help.




As he told his side of the story, detectives noted he lied several times - about whether he'd ever been to the apartment and what he did with the gun after. Wallace claimed he was drugged by Woods, "passed out," and woke up handcuffed to the bed. He claimed he was forced to put a condom on at gunpoint but fought Woods off, grabbed a gun from his bag and shot her.




Woods' autopsy found no trauma to her body except the gunshot.




"If it was really self-defense, why did you run? Why did you hide? Why did you take her phone and pawn it?" Dehoniesto added.




Dehoniesto said her daughter was a transgender woman, vocal and proud about who she was.

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"Her being transgender, I was always just worried about people being so hateful," Dehoniesto said. "Yeah, that was very concerning to me."




Documents said Wallace told police he knew Woods "from local bars and clubs," and found her contact information online. He denied knowing Woods was transgender. He also denied that he went to her apartment for sex.




"She had no problem letting it be known she's transgender. My daughter was not that type of person. I know there's a lot of people out there that's quick to say, 'Well, she probably didn't reveal it.' No. Not with my daughter," Dehoniesto said. "Regardless of her sexuality, regardless of what she was doing, it doesn't make it right for somebody to take her life and make excuses for it."




She described Woods as "very loved," an animal-lover who could make anyone laugh. Someone with a big heart and a life cut far too short.




"Love your child. Accept your child for who they are because life is too short," Dehoniesto said. "You don't know what can happen."




Online jail records showed Wallace was arrested Thursday on preliminary charges of murder, murder during commission of a felony and robbery.

Wallace's prior conviction

Back in 2020, Wallace pleaded guilty to armed robbery, criminal confinement and resisting law enforcement.




Court documents for the 2020 incident said police were called to the 5400 block of Calder Way, where a woman said two men were standing in the hallway of her building when she got home from work. They walked outside and approached her car. When she opened her car door, the victim said both men pointed guns at her, demanded money and told her to get into the backseat.




The victim "was pleading with the males to let her go and just take the car."




"The taller male was grabbing her breasts trying to force her into the vehicle," documents said. "He then kissed her on the lips three or four times as he was grabbing her."




The victim managed to escape and run back to her apartment. Later that night, an officer spotted a car matching the description of the stolen vehicle, and was led on a pursuit until the suspect crashed into a ditch. Police saw a man get out of the driver's seat and continue running. He was eventually located and apprehended.




When police showed the victim a photo array, she positively identified Wallace as "the taller of the two males who had kissed her during the earlier robbery."




Documents said Wallace first told investigators he met an unknown man while walking but was unable to provide any identifying information about him. He later admitted he was lying and that he had met a friend he'd known since elementary school. They were both 18 years old at the time.




Detectives spoke with Wallace's guardian, who told them she "started having difficulty with him when he was hanging out on the street with other males near East 42nd Street and North Post Road," according to court documents.



via: https://fox59.com/news/i-just-dont-understand-why-indy-mother-describes-finding-daughter-murdered-suspects-arrest-7-weeks-later/