Justice for Nicole: 5 years after deadly Pioneer Square shooting -- her killer is still on the street

KILLER WANTED IN SEATTLE --
Five years after newly arrived Seattle resident Nicole Westbrook was shot dead in Pioneer Square, police are still waiting on that one good tip to identify her killer.

A year after her murder, Nicole's aunt Joyce visited the tree near where she was killed at 2nd and Jackson on April 22, 2012. The corner had been decorated with ribbons. Years later, there's no visible reminder, but the pain of losing her hasn't faded. "I just want them to think even for a moment about Nicole," Joyce said in 2013.

Nicole was killed just a few weeks after coming to Seattle for culinary school. "She was so excited to move here, so being here a year later without her. It's difficult," Joyce said.

Police say she was a victim of a random shooting and they still want to know who was in a white car at the scene.

"We still need information from the public and like we've said many, many times before, somebody knows something," said former Seattle Police Dep. Chief Nick Metz in 2014. Those words still echo true today.

Her family is still in pain and we'll never solve that pain completely, but to at least to give them some closure in knowing that the people who are responsible have been brought to justice would just go a really long way toward their healing. It would also help the community know that they're just a bit safer with them off the streets.

Nicole's aunt hopes people will be reminded there's still a killer on the loose. "I would hate for this to happen to someone else and for families to experience what my sister has had to go through this last year," Joyce said.

If you have information on Nicole's murder, call the detectives at 206-233-5000, or an anonymous tip into Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or use the P3 Tips App to submit your information.