Nichole Coats: Aspiring Model Found Dead In Her L.A. Apartment

Nichole “Nikki” Coats, a Los Angeles-based sales rep and aspiring model, was found dead inside her apartment on Sunday, September 10, 2023. The 32-year-old worked from home, adding to the mystery of how she was killed.

She was found inside her apartment by her father, who immediately called 911.

“I went up to her bed and I touched her arm because it was extended out,” Guy told The New York Post. “She had a cover over her and I touched her arm, but her whole body was swollen, like it was inflamed.

Her face was so swollen and beaten that Guy said the only way he could identify her was by her tattoos.

“I took a look at her face and I immediately turned away because I just couldn’t take it. I knew immediately that she had already passed away.,” he told The Post.

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a homicide investigation. Unlike the murder of fellow L.A. model Maleesa Mooney, the slaying of Coats has not garnered the same media attention or even vigilance from the authorities.

Coats’ family is reportedly still awaiting a cause of death from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

Likewise, police have yet to release details pertinent to the case, including possible injuries or even preliminary cause of death.

Meanwhile, the Coats family is grieving and searching for answers. They also believe that Coats was murdered.

“I couldn’t recognize her,” May Stevens, the aunt, told local TV station KTLA. “I believe it was murder, I really do. One of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position. That’s not somebody who just laid in their bed and died.”

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

 According to media reports, they stopped hearing from Coats on September 7, just days before she was found dead inside her apartment.

She said that her daughter had four friends visit her apartment. “I don't know how long they stayed there. They came out, but Nikki didn't come out. This was on Friday," Sharon told KABC TV.

The mysterious deaths of Coats and now Mooney, who lived 5 minutes away, has raised suspicions from the Coats family.

"I'm just trying to piece everything together, but I still feel that something fishy is going on," Coats’ mother was quoted as saying.

LAPD, which is still probing the cases, has yet to link the two slayings.

Anyone who has any information about the suspects responsible for Coats’ death is urged to contact the LAPD detectives Pierce or Marcinek at 213-996-4150. Anonymous tips can be submitted online or by calling 800-222-8477.