Hello listeners I'm your host Amara and this is Black Girl Gone, I tell the story of Nicole Smith, a 14-year-old

girl who was murdered in Atlanta, Georgia on June 7, 1995.

That day, Nicole left her home to walk to her middle school

where she was finishing up her eighth grade year.

But on her way, Nicole remembered she left her homework and so she

went back home to get it. She decided to take a shortcut through the wooded area behind

her apartment complex, but Nicole never made it back to her home.

Less than an hour later, her body was found in that wooded area. She had been raped and shot twice.

Despite DNA and witnesses seeing a man fleeing the scene.

Detectives were unable to find the killer.

But 26 years later, with advancements in DNA DNA the man responsible for Nicole's murder was

finally identified. This is Nicole's story.

When I first heard Nicole's story, it was unsolved.

But 26 years after the brutal murder of this 14-year-old girl,

her killer was finally identified.

So often cases that go cold like Nicole's

seem like they may never be solved,

but this case is a powerful reminder that no case is ever truly cold. Time brings with it many things and with advancements in DNA

cases which at one point seemed impossible to solve are being solved.

When families and law enforcement don't give up finding justice,

cases can be solved and families can get some semblance of

closure to the worst chapter of their lives. In June 1995, Nicole Smith, just

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