HENRYETTA, Okla. — A daughter's quest for justice in her mother's decades-old murder case has led her to seek help from the media after hitting multiple roadblocks.
Miracle Lea McComb was just 7 years old when she gave her mother one last hug on New Year's Day 1994. She had no idea it would be goodbye forever.
"My mom had come into the house, and she was picking up the babysitter, and so I woke up, and I ran and gave her a hug, and she told me to go back to bed, and so I did," McComb said.
Hours later, 26-year-old Shawna Louise Jones was found dead at Bald Knob Hill in Henryetta, a small pond where kids used to party on the west side of town.
"About 5 pm, my grandma got a phone call, and I could just tell when she answered the phone that something was wrong. I got this big lump in my throat, and she said, they found Shawna, and she's not alive. I was 7. I was just about to turn 8 in February," McComb said.
For decades, Shawna's death was written off as an accident. But the family says evidence told a different story. Her body had been turned over before police arrived. Footprints were found near her head. She had a human bite mark on her arm and a fractured hyoid bone - signs of strangulation.
"Her head was about 3 to 4 inches of water. Someone had flipped her over before law enforcement got to the crime scene. She had mud caked in one of her eyes and in her nose," McComb said.
As of 2022, Shawna's death is classified as a homicide. McComb discovered something that could crack this case wide open.
"I was reading through a report years later in 2015, and it was like it was highlighted to me on this paper that there was DNA. I called the DA and asked the detective run it through CODIS, and it hit somebody," McComb said.
That DNA match could be the key to justice for Shawna. But despite having this evidence, the case sits stalled.
"It's sitting on just a shelf. I repeatedly asked if we could get this moving, and the DA, probably about 4 years ago, just said no more," McComb said.
Now McComb lives in fear, knowing her mother's suspected killer walks free.
"It's very hard to go about daily knowing that there is a connection and a person in our mom's murder case that is just out and about. I know that he's dangerous, and I know that it's only a matter of time, and I don't want it to be me. I don't want it to be my daughters, and I don't want it to be anybody in our community," McComb said.
McComb continues to fight for answers and justice for her mother. If you have any information about Shawna Jones' murder, you can contact the Henryetta Police Department.
2 News reached out to the Okmulgee County District Attorney's Office for comment on why this case remains stalled despite the DNA evidence. Their investigator says the case is still open and they are looking at the DNA and working to follow new leads.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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