Community raises money to replace repossessed headstone for Colorado Springs teen cold case victim

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- After nearly 40 years, a cold case victim finally has a tombstone to mark her gravesite.

In 1977, 14-year-old Maria Honzell was babysitting ant an apartment next to hers in northeast Colorado Springs when someone entered the apartment and stabbed her to death. While there were a couple of leads in the weeks following her murder, the case was never solved.

To make matters worse, Honzell's gravestone was repossessed in the years after her death when her family wasn't able to make payments on the stone.

Her childhood best friend, Kathy Moberly-Taylor, told KRDO she's never forgotten her. She's been laying flowers at Honzell's gravesite every few months in the 45 years since her death, even after the gravestone was repossessed.

"A precious innocent child was stabbed to death, brutally stabbed to death for no reason, and to not have a gravestone is just devastating," Moberly-Taylor said. "I've been too poor to put one on."

In January, KRDO featured Honzell's case as part of our Colorado Cold Case series, including highlighting the fact that no one in Honzell's life had the money to replace the gravestone.

Following the special, members of the community opened their pockets and raised enough money to help Honzell's family purchase a new headstone. One of the largest donors was an organization called Mothers of Murdered Youth (MOMY), which is run by a woman named Jennifer Romero, whose son is also a cold case victim.

Moberly-Taylor could hardly believe it when she saw the new stone for the first time.

"It brought tears to my eyes. I was so happy, and I came out and I hugged each stone and had my mom take pictures," she said. "It's just so beautiful."

Honzell's friends and family said this is a big step closer to having closure for Honzell's death.

"We may never find the person who killed Maria and I will never understand why, who could be so angry to do that? But I have peace now -- and her having a stone something that I've really, really, really wanted for many years. So, thank you," Moberly-Taylor said.

If you know anything that may help solve Honzell's case, contact the Colorado Springs Police Department by clicking here.