Hello listeners, I'm your host Amara, and this is Black Girl God, a true crime podcast.

On this episode of Black Girl Gone, we tell the story of Naila Franklin,

a 28-year-old woman who was brutally murdered in September 2007. Naila was living in Chicago,

Illinois and working as a pharmacy sales rep when she disappeared on September 18.

Nine days after she was last seen, her body was found in a wooded area in a Chicago suburb.

When the investigation began, it didn't take police long to narrow in on a suspect,

an ex who Naila said was threatening her. An arrest was made three months later,

but it would take eight years before justice would be served.

This is Naila's story. Naila Franklin had done everything right in life.

At just 28 years old, she had already accomplished so much and her family was so excited

to see what else she would achieve. But in September 2007, her bright future was snatched away by a

heartless monster, leaving her family devastated and robbed of the promise what could have been.

When I first came across Naila's story, I knew it was a story that I wanted to tell because

although her killer has been caught and convicted, she was more than just a victim. She had a story,

and part of her story is a cautionary tale about how no matter what decisions we may or

may not make in our lives, evil people with evil intentions are out there. Naila Franklin was born

on April 12, 1979 in Chicago, Illinois. Her mom Maria told the Chicago Tribune that she found the

name Naila and a baby book. It's Arabic and means one who succeeds. And from the moment that she was

born, she embodied that meaning. Maria said that Naila was her good luck charm and everything she

touched seemed to turn to gold. According to her loved ones, she was what we would call an old soul.

Maria said that she would always wonder why her daughter seemed to be in such a hurry to

live her life. But looking back now, she believes that her soul knew that she wasn't going to be here

...