WOODLAWN, Md. — In her Woodlawn living room on a Wednesday afternoon in February, Jean Hayes looked down at about half a dozen photos.
Pictures of her daughter, Deborah, from ages six months to 18 years.
"She was a good student," Hayes said. "She had her first boyfriend. She was a good girl."
As we sat down with Hayes in her living room, it was easy to see: she was, and still is, proud of Deborah. The valedictorian of her high school class, and at the time, a freshman at Morgan State University who sang in her church choir, and a people person.
"She liked people," Hayes recalled. "Just seemed to be genuine and good. That just made me feel good, and she wanted to help people."
In April 1976, Hayes was working at the post office, and received a call: her youngest daughter, Cheryl.
"I got a call, my other daughter came home and found her, and she was shocked. She ran out and she went to the nearest phone booth and called me," Hayes remembered.
Hayes rushed home. She couldn't recall whether the front door was unlocked, but she went right in. Her daughter had been murdered: found dead in their Woodlawn apartment.
"My mother was upset, very, very upset. Deborah was her favorite. And as I recall, it didn't seem like they took too much interest in the case, and so it was little interest in solving it," Hayes told us.
In 2025, Hayes and her family still have no answer. No one was ever convicted for Deborah Scott's murder.
"She was buried at Arbutus," Hayes added, "and when we went to the cemetery, and even afterwards, whenever we would go, someone else had been there, which was odd, and we never knew. We never found out who had been to the cemetery, but someone had been to the cemetery."
Scott's surviving family has many questions in the case, and so does WMAR-2 News. Baltimore County police canceled a scheduled interview for this entry of Maryland Cold Cases, but a detective working the case called to tell us their Cold Case unit is working to send evidence for DNA processing.
The use of DNA in other cold cases leaves Hayes optimistic.
"When I look at TV and I see cold cases being solved, especially with DNA. Now that gives me hope that maybe something can be done," Hayes said. "And my thought is perhaps something can be solved before I leave this earth. That's my one hope."
Several years after she lost Deborah, Hayes' younger daughter, Cheryl, died in a car crash. A picture of Cheryl still hangs near the living room.
Jean Hayes still holds out hope for Deborah's case.
"For our viewing audience, what would you want them to know the most out of what we've talked about?" WMAR-2 News Cold Cases Reporter Jack Watson asked.
"I would like them to know that there is hope, and I live in hope," Hayes answered, "and I guess that's what I want to want people to know."
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
If you were in that area, and if remember anything about that day, please contact Baltimore County Police at 410-887-3943.
If you have a Cold Case you'd like us to highlight, please email us at storyideas@wmar.com.
