The Detroit woman who was killed and left in an apartment’s dumpster on Wednesday was a 26-year-old woman who was studying to be a nurse before she was brutally murdered.
Police were called to Parkview Towers and Square apartment building on reports of blood in the elevator. They discovered the body of Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird, known my everyone as Candice, in a dumpster located near the 1600 Block of Robert Bradby Drive.
Family friend Michael Hines said she was an all-American girl who was sweet and full of hope and life.
“She was a great young lady, and I loved her,” Hines said. “She had a bright future. She was going to school to be in the nursing field. She told me she was going to make something of herself.”
According to the Wayne County Medical Examiner, Laird’s cause of death is compressive asphyxia, and it was a homicide.
“It’s just ridiculous. You shouldn’t kill no one like that – like throwing away garbage,” Hines said.
Officials are asking for help finding 50-year-old James Quill Cockerham, a person of interest in the death of a female victim.
Police have confirmed through a continuing investigation Cockerham had been in contact with the deceased female. The victim and the suspect were seen together inside the building’s elevator.
Cockerham, pictured above, is described as a African American man, about 6’0″ with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt and wheat-colored boots.
He’s also a registered sex offender and has been convicted of several crimes including weapons charges, criminal sexual conduct, car theft, and armed robbery.
Hines believes Candice fought for her life.
“I believe she fought. She was small but I believe she fought.”