Aspiring models slain days apart, stoking serial killer fears in L.A.

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At one point in the early 1980s, Los Angeles had five different serial killers hunting and murdering in the Southland.

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Those days passed for a wide array of reasons, preeminent among them being that they were caught. Most are dead through natural causes or via a blast of death in the green room at San Quentin.

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Others rot on death row.

Now, the brutal murders of two aspiring models days apart in Los Angeles are giving cops pause.

The body of Nichole Coats, 32, was discovered in her downtown Los Angeles apartment on Sept. 10. Two days later, the body of fellow model Maleesa Mooney, 31, was discovered in her apartment.

Mooney’s apartment was about 1.5 km from Coats’ residence. Detectives have so far not said how the women died, but both deaths are being treated as homicides.

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“I’m devastated that it happened to Nicole. This is horrible,” her mother Sharon told KABC. “It’s like a dream that my daughter’s going to walk through the door and she’s not. She’s gone.”

KABC reported that both families last heard from the victims on Sept. 7. Coats’ aunt May Stevens discovered her niece’s lifeless body.

She said: “There is a predator on the loose.”

Coats worked from her apartment as a sales representative. In her spare time, she pursued her dream of becoming a catwalk queen.

After learning about the Mooney murder, her family believes there’s a connection between the two deaths. Both women were Black, shared similar looks, both were models and the crime scenes were just a five-minute drive apart.

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So far, cops are being tight-lipped, telling reporters it’s too early to tell if there is a connection between the two investigations.

A spokesperson for the LAPD told the U.S. Sun that a death investigation is underway regarding Coats’ case.

Mooney worked as a real estate agent at Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seekers and only moved into her new home a month ago, her family said.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d have to make this post and get justice for my one & only sister,” Mooney’s sister, singer Jourdin Pauline, told her one million Instagram followers.

“My heart is crushed I can’t believe you won’t be here with us anymore. You were so loving and so kind to everyone.”

Meanwhile, local models and influencers are raising the alarm and warning other models to be wary of meeting strangers or going alone to photo shoots.

A flyer advising women to “stay safe” has been widely shared in Los Angeles. It advises models to share locations, contact information and a 411 on who they’re meeting.

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