عاجل | Washington mother’s final moments captured on horrific 911 call: “He’s got a gun!”

On Jan. 2, 2022, Gloria Choi placed an anguished call to 911.

GLORIA CHOI TO 911: I don't know where I am … I'm scared to get out of my car.

911 DISPATCHER: Yeah …

GLORIA CHOI TO 911: He's got a gun!

Seconds later, multiple shots are fired. It lasts about two minutes, and dispatchers are left trying to make sense of what they just heard:

911 DISPATCHER: Hello, can anybody hear me?

911 DISPATCHER: Hello?

Gloria Choi to 911: "… I think my boyfriend's following me"

Officers from the Lakewood Police Department in Washington arrive within minutes.

Greg Greer: One of the officers that approached, you can see him trying to get to her quickly and the doors are locked …

Former Pierce County Prosecutor Greg Greer describes what first responders did.

Greg Greer: … they bust out a rear window smartly, wisely, so they can preserve the evidence … And they're able to extricate her pretty quickly.

Natalie Morales: And did you see them pull out the victim at all …

Terry Estvold: I did, yeah.

Terry Estvold gave police a detailed description of what he witnessed.

Terry Estvold: … and I was probably 30 feet away … and they put her on the ground and worked on her hard for several minutes –

Natalie Morales: Had to be hard for you to witness that …

Terry Estvold: It's terrible ... and I -- I -- it still bothers me a lot to this day just thinking about it.

Gloria was pronounced dead a short time later at a nearby hospital. Brieanna Eberly soon heard the news that her best friend had been killed but she couldn't quite accept it.

Brieanna Eberly: … And I repeatedly, repeatedly called Gloria's phone over and over again, no answer, no answer, no answer and then I called her dad … And then he finally answered. And I remember asking him is it true? Is she -- is she gone? Is she -- is it true? … And he -- he said, "Yeah, she's gone." (emotional)

Greer took "48 Hours" to the scene and walked us through what he learned from investigators.

Greg Greer: … this would've been gravel shoulder and somewhere in here, he pinches her vehicle off ... And she's no longer able to -- to move forward. He's blocking her …

GLORIA CHOI TO 911:  ... I think my boyfriend's following me. He just hit my car.

Gloria says the man is her boyfriend but does not give a name.

Greg Greer: He gets out of the vehicle. And if you've heard the 911 call – 

Natalie Morales: Right. 

GLORIA CHOI TO 911: He's got a gun! Please come!

Greer says the shooter was standing next to Gloria's driver's side window. The door was locked.

Natalie Morales: He's not trying to talk to her. He immediately starts firing.

Greg Greer: He's there to kill her. He is there to kill her. 

After firing nine .40 caliber bullets through the door and window of Gloria's truck, Greer says the shooter begins to drive away.

As he does, Gloria's truck moves forward until it hits a utility pole. as shown in police animation. Greer believes the truck moved because Gloria's foot was no longer applying pressure to the brake.

Greg Greer: He doesn't know whether she's alive or not is what we believe is going through his mind, because the vehicle's no longer where it was. That's 60 yards west of where it was when he first shot her. 

The shooter makes a U-turn and comes back around to Gloria's truck. He pulls his truck alongside so that his driver's side window is now next to hers. This time, he does not bother to get out of his car, Greer says.

Greg Greer: … And he rolls this window down, five more shots just to make sure. … Nine wasn't enough. Five more. Then after he's finished that, he immediately takes off.

After firing 14 shots and hitting Gloria at least 10 times, prosecutors say the shooter disappears into the night. The first big break in the case came from one of the first officers at the crime scene.

Greg Greer: One of the officers … she notices this lanyard that's on Gloria. … and then she sees her name and that hits her hard.

Gloria's lanyard was from a nearby Holiday Inn, where she was the manager. Just days earlier, that officer took a report from Gloria after she called 911. Gloria said her ex-boyfriend had been following and harassing her. And now they had a name: Billy Rickman.

Greg Greer: … And that becomes a lead … to understanding what happened.

Greer says a detective subpoenaed Rickman's phone records. Even without having his phone, police were able to read his text messages.

Greg Greer: … At one point he says where he is … And it's the Home Motel.

The detective rushed to the motel which is a six-minute drive from the murder scene. Greer says the desk clerk told the detective that days earlier Rickman attempted to sign in with a fake name, but the clerk insisted on proof of identity.

Coreen Schnepf: We have him on surveillance video getting back to the motel.

That was after the shooting, says prosecutor Coreen Schnepf.

Coreen Schnepf: He appears in a hurry, he gets outs of his vehicle … and he immediately starts wiping down the side of the vehicle that might have any kind of evidence of --  gun powder residue … You can see him on the phone. He's contacting people …

She says investigators began checking surveillance from several businesses in the area and got another break at a nearby car rental business.

Natalie Morales: This picture is very clear.

Coreen Schnepf: Enterprise … had great video.

Natalie Morales: Here, there's no denying who that is, looking at that. Yeah.

Rickman rented a Chevy Colorado using his real name. It is the same vehicle in the motel video, and the same vehicle police believe Rickman used to run Gloria off the road. The Lakewood police put out an alert for Billy Rickman but in the days that followed, he was nowhere to be found.

A short-lived romance and signs of trouble

With Billy Rickman on the run, police questioned Gloria's friend, Brieanna Eberly, about Rickman's relationship with Gloria. Brieanna had known Gloria since 2018 when she hired her to help out at the Oyo Hotel, which was owned by Gloria's parents.

Brieanna Eberly: She was a part of my family. My whole family knew her, and they loved her.

Brieanna Eberly: … she wanted to please her parents to the best of her ability … she was their lifeline, and she did it all and she did it all with grace. Absolute grace.

Gloria was the single mother of a 7-year-old.

Brieanna Eberly: … it was all about her kid … she was very fierce when it came to her son.

And in May 2021, Billy Rickman checked into the hotel from California -- a mystery man with a larger-than-life personality.

Brieanna says it didn't take long for Rickman to notice Gloria.

Brieanna Eberly: Gloria was … coming into the office. … he walked up and introduced himself. …  And he's like, "you're very pretty." And she goes, "well, thank you." She walked away and he's like "who's that?" … And I'm like "her name's Gloria. Stay away" …

But Rickman did not "stay away" and before long, the two were texting — a lot.

Brieanna Eberly: … she liked the way he talked to her and for the things that he said to her … All she wanted to do is be loved by somebody.

And Rickman made it seem like he could be that guy, says Meaghan Driscoll, the Choi family's lawyer.

Meaghan Driscoll: … he really came across as this nice guy, love-bombed her, meaning he's giving her gifts and kind of showering her with kindness.

Weeks after meeting her, Rickman sent Gloria this text that read in part:

 "… Your the light to my day every day. … You make me feel so sexy and special and I thank you for that … I WANT YOU … I want to be with you Gloria Choi ! ... I can't wait to see what life has in store for us. My heart is yours …"

Natalie Morales: How was he with her son?

Gloria's friend Jacob Blue.

Jacob Blue: … what she liked about Rickman is that … he had a lot of masculine energy that he was showing him …

Brieanna Eberly: … Billy and her son had a very instant connection … cause he was like a kid himself, you know? …

Within weeks, Gloria and Rickman became a couple, and he began staying in her apartment at the Oyo Hotel. Brieanna says Gloria's father did not approve of the relationship.

Jacob Blue: … and her parents basically drew a red line and said, he can't be staying here at the hotel anymore.

Gloria's father wanted him to move out.

Jacob Blue: And Rickman went and approached her parents and told them he's not going anywhere. And that Gloria is now his. And if they don't like it, they can leave …

Natalie Morales: Wow.

Brieanna Eberly: … her dad basically gave her an ultimatum … She could stay on as the manager or she could leave. And she chose to leave.

Gloria, her son, and Rickman moved to an apartment in the town of Tumwater in September 2021, and her heartbroken parents chose to sell their hotel.

That's when Gloria took a new job as manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Lakewood, right next to Tacoma. 

Jacob Blue: She was still very happy with what she had, but it didn't last long that happiness

Gloria told Brieanna that Rickman had big dreams but no way of making them come true.

Brieanna Eberly: And Gloria's like well who's gonna fund all of this? … You're not. … You don't have a job. Get a job, you know. And he refused …

Natalie Morales: So was he asking her for money?

Brieanna Eberly: Oh, yeah. He drained her … She bought everything.

Within weeks, Gloria saw a different side of Rickman. She told Brieanna he was often mean, angry and insecure. Gloria also told Brieanna that Rickman was drinking to excess and using cocaine and marijuana.

Natalie Morales: And what did you tell her?

Brieanna Eberly: Uh, leave. Run away …

Gloria chose to stay with Rickman but two months later, in November, Jacob says he got a troubling call.

Jacob Blue: … She did express that he would become physical with her, push her around, throw her around and that she didn't feel safe just breaking things off with him.

Jacob told Gloria she needed to leave him immediately, but Gloria said she was afraid that might trigger something inside Rickman.

Brieanna Eberly: … she didn't know how she was going to leave Billy. She was scared to leave him.

Natalie Morales: What scared her?

Brieanna Eberly: Possessiveness … he knew everywhere she went …

Natalie Morales: She felt that he was tracking her every move?

Brieanna Eberly: … She found a tag in her car.

Natalie Morales: An AirTag?

Brieanna Eberly: Mm-hmm. She's the one that told me about it later on.

And Gloria suspected there were other hidden Apple AirTags in her truck.

Natalie Morales: Are you concerned for your friend at this point? 

Brieanna Eberly: Absolutely.

In November 2021, just six months after they met, Brieanna says Gloria made up her mind to leave Rickman.

Brieanna Eberly: She looked at me dead in the face and said "I'm leaving." … And I asked her, you know, "what's your plan?" … She goes "I'm gonna go to my parents" …

Her parents welcomed Gloria and her son into their home. But it was not so easy to get rid of Rickman. He had borrowed Gloria's truck and refused to give it back. So, on Nov. 28, Gloria went to the Tumwater Police Department to file a report about the truck and, while she was there, she told the officer taking the report about Rickman:

"When Billy is sober he is calm, but when he drinks, he has a short fuse and is very angry … I wish him well, but choosing to not be a part of his life anymore for the safety and stability for my son and I."

Attorney Meaghan Driscoll, who represents the Choi family, said it was clear the Tumwater officer believed Gloria was at risk. The officer reported that Rickman was "potentially tracking" Gloria with Apple AirTags, owned "numerous firearms" and appeared to be "extremely manipulative."

Meaghan Driscoll: … he actually becomes really concerned for her and her safety … So the officer actually tells Gloria and tells the court … to issue a domestic violence no contact order.

Almost immediately, Rickman was arrested for taking Gloria's truck and he agreed to this recorded interview:

BILLY RICKMAN: It's both of our cars. Like, we live together. It's not like I'm a neighbor or somethin'.

OFFICER: ... What do you think her opinion is of you when you're drinking? 

BILLY RICKMAN: She doesn't like it.

OFFICER: Do you think, like, maybe she might feel, like, uncomfortable or scared?

BILLY RICKMAN: I'll tell you this much. If I had a shot with my girl again, man, I would never drink another drip of alcohol. And that's the honest-to-God truth.

Rickman was jailed for three days for taking Gloria's truck and, on Dec. 1, 2021, he was brought before a judge who slapped him with a strict no-contact order.

But Brieanna says the order did not faze Rickman. The day he got out of jail, he told Brieanna he was unconcerned with the legalities.

Brieanna Eberly: He didn't care. He was like so, "I'm still gonna talk to her" … 

Tracking Gloria Choi's every move

In early December 2021, Gloria Choi was back living with her parents, hoping she had rid herself of Billy Rickman once and for all. But Brieanna said Rickman had other ideas, as he told her the day he got out of jail for taking Gloria's truck -- which had been returned to her.

Brieanna Eberly: Billy showed up at my place … and he's like "I need your help," and he begged me to talk to her about getting back together. … He said that he would change. He, you know, would stop drinking. He'd be a better person to her. … and in the back of my mind I'm like, "no" … 

Natalie Morales: You didn't believe him then?

Brieanna Eberly: I didn't …

Natalie Morales: And what's your understanding of a no contact order? 

Brieanna Eberly: No contact order means you can't come and contact that person, text, phone calls, physical location, anything of that sort. 

Natalie Morales: And if you do what happens? 

Brieanna Eberly: You go to jail.

Brieanna told Rickman that he'd be arrested if he broke any of those conditions, but two weeks later, she got a call from a friend telling her Gloria was hiding from Rickman in the bathroom of a coffee shop. Brienna wasted no time getting there. 

Brieanna Eberly (with Morales in coffee shop parking lot): As I was pulling in, I saw Billy Rickman's car was parked over there … We made eye contact … I went to the bathroom and knocked on the door … and she opened it … She knew that Billy was here. … 

It was another reminder to Gloria that Rickman seemed to be tracking her every move. 

Natalie Morales: … and you said she was very emotional inside, locked into the bathroom?

Brieanna Eberly: … she was -- she was petrified. She was crying. She was shaking. … she refused to come out until she knew he was gone.

It's not clear if police were ever called.

Three days later, Brieanna said that Gloria told her that Rickman confronted her in the Capital Mall while she was shopping with her son. Brieanna said Gloria told her that Rickman pleaded with her to drop the no contact order, but she refused.

Coreen Schnepf: … he was putting himself in her path so that he could rekindle the lost relationship … 

That lost relationship, says prosecutor Coreen Schnepf, was on Rickman's mind when he made cellphone videos directed at Gloria.

Coreen Schnepf: You can see the videos that he created to try and make her feel bad about leaving him.

BILLY RICKMAN (video):  This is what Christmas alone looks like. The parking lot of the f****** hotel 'cause you ain't got nowhere to go 'cause you know your girl put you out on the street

Prosecutors say everything came to a head on the last two days of 2021. It started on Dec. 30 when Rickman sent Gloria an email after he spotted her with Jacob Blue at a coffee shop.

Natalie Morales: And I guess Rickman did write an email … to Gloria that read, "You left me for another guy wow."

Greg Greer: Correct. 

The email was sent in real time, and, while they were at the coffee shop, Jacob says Gloria began getting calls from a blocked number. When she answered, Rickman was on the line yelling at her, according to Jacob.

Greg Greer: … he believed that this Jacob Blue … was a, you know, potential boyfriend … 

They moved on to a sushi restaurant, but Gloria was becoming increasingly bothered by the headlights of a car which were pointed at the restaurant, and Jacob says Gloria believed Rickman was behind the wheel. 

Jacob Blue: … She says, "I know that car and I know that it's watching us right now." And she got really uncomfortable.

Jacob says they left the restaurant and discovered someone had stolen their computers from Gloria's truck. They also discovered one of her truck's tires was slashed. Gloria called the police and asked for their help. It was the first of four calls about Rickman over a 48-hour period. 

911 DISPATCHER:  And what did he damage?

GLORIA CHOI:  Um, my front driver's side tire. And he went through all the stuff in the truck and stole my backpack with my laptop and my friend's laptop bag as well.

911 DISPATCHER: OK. OK. I'll have an officer call you.

Natalie Morales: … and did Gloria express that she thought it was Rickman?

Jacob Blue: … she was confident it was Rickman …

Gloria told police that only Rickman knew the truck's keypad code to gain entry. She gave them a description of his black BMW and told the officer about the no contact order. The officer said he left Rickman a voicemail message letting him know the police wanted to speak with him.

Gloria and Jacob then drove to the Holiday Inn to retrieve Jacob's Jeep, and that's when Jacob discovered that two of his tires had been slashed.

Jacob Blue: This is a snowy night, there's snow on the ground …

Gloria took cellphone video following the footsteps she thought were Rickman's.

GLORIA CHOU (cellphone video) Gloria: ... Here is ... his footsteps.

Because Gloria managed that Holiday Inn, she was able to get the surveillance footage. The videos have never been seen by the public before now. 

Jacob Blue: … we see a man come in and sneak in through the shadows. … He comes up to my Jeep and he punctures both my tires … And -- and walks off.

They called police a second time and gave them the video. Both Jacob and Gloria identified the man as Billy Rickman by his distinctive walk, but officers said the video was not clear enough to make an arrest. 

Jacob Blue:  And the police were like, I'm sorry … without us being able to see his face, there's really not a whole lot to go off of, not much we can do 

The next day was Dec. 31, New Year's Eve. Jacob returned to his Jeep with two new tires. That's when he and Gloria discovered the other two tires were now slashed. That prompted a third call to 911.

911 DISPATCHER: What are you reporting? 

JACOB BLUE:  …Vandalism on my vehicle by a stalker.

Once again, the surveillance footage showed the man Jacob and Gloria believed was Rickman slashing the tires. But police again said the video was not clear enough for them to make an identification. 

Then, on New Year's Eve, there was a fourth call to 911 -- this time by the desk clerk at the Holiday Inn. He spotted the tire slasher again puncturing the tires on Jacob's Jeep. The desk clerk chased after him, recording video at the same time he was calling 911. 

HOTEL MANAGER TO 911: He took all his license plates off. He's driving a Chevy Colorado. It's got one light out.

Police say Rickman was driving that same Chevy Colorado when he ran Gloria off the road, murdered her, then escaped into the night.

Billy Rickman charged with Gloria Choi's murder

Billy Rickman was able to elude police for four days until Jan. 6, 2022. That's when prosecutor Greg Greer says law enforcement tracked his phone to Humboldt County, in northern California, where Rickman turned up drunk at a relative's house.

Greg Greer: … and this relative did not want Mr. Rickman staying with him … this relative offered to take Mr. Rickman to a -- a nearby casino and put him up in at the casino in a hotel …

Rickman's relative, driving his black BMW, was stopped by tribal police and they contacted the California Highway Patrol who rushed to the scene. Police say Rickman, as seen in dashcam video, shoved his relative out of the driver's seat and onto the pavement, gunned the engine and took off.

Greg Greer: He's got enough of a head start … and they actually don't find him. They -- they lose him.

Rickman wandered around in the darkness for about five hours on the wet, cold night before being found and taken into custody.

Greg Greer: … Mr. Rickman … is soaking wet, freezing cold, hypothermic.

Rickman was charged with aggravated first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty.

Some 250 miles south, a woman who says she knew firsthand just how dangerous Rickman was, received a phone call.

Aja Houle: The officer from the Oakland Police Department called me. … and when I answered the phone, she told me Billy has been arrested.

Aja Houle had filed a police report about Rickman. In it, said Rickman forced her into prostitution and sexually assaulted her when she was a 14-year-old runaway living in Oakland in 2005.

Aja Houle: … I'm a survivor of human trafficking, and Billy Rickman was my trafficker.

Aja says she endured years of abuse, before she nearly was killed after Rickman choked her with a strand of Christmas tree lights.

Aja Houle: Like, I could not breathe. Like, it was very scary. … I was terrified.

She escaped to San Francisco.

Aja Houle: It was one of the best moments in my life, but also one of the most terrifying because I felt free, but I also felt so much fear because I had crossed him. And I knew what he was capable of.

Shortly after leaving, Aja called a girlfriend who was living with Rickman.

Aja Houle: He took the phone out of her hand when I called her to check on her once … and said, "bitch, if I ever find you, I will ***** kill you." And I knew that he meant it … I never ever saw that as a threat, I saw that as a promise because he would -- he would kill me. He was livid.

Aja says she always wanted justice, but it was only while completing her education and pursuing a master's degree in public affairs from the University of California at Berkeley that she found the courage to file that report with the Oakland Police. It detailed multiple alleged incidents of Rickman's abuse, including "hitting her with closed fists on the face and body" and causing her to sustain "a black eye, bruises and cuts to the face."

Aja Houle: I wanted him held accountable for what he did.

Oakland Police put out an arrest warrant for Rickman in 2021 in Alameda County but by that time, he had left California. Washington State prosecutors say they never saw the warrant.

Aja Houle: I was angry and upset because he could have been stopped beforehand … I blamed myself in some kind of way.

But Aja still wanted to help. She emailed the prosecutors working on the Gloria Choi murder and offered to give them information about Rickman. But prosecutors demurred, saying they wanted to keep their case focused on Gloria's murder.

Coreen Schnepf: … That wasn't really part of our case … so we didn't follow up on that particular element.

Rickman's trial for the murder of Gloria Choi began in November 2023 before a jury of nine men and three women. Gloria's family were too devastated to attend the trial.

Brieanna Eberly: … they moved out of town without a word. And we didn't get to say goodbye. … But I understood why.

Prosecutor Greer wanted the jury to understand "why" as well. So he played Gloria's 911 call in its entirety right after the opening statements.

911 DISPATCHER: What's your location of your emergency?

GLORIA CHOI: I'm, um, I don't know where I am, but I think my boyfriend's following me …

Greg Greer: You could tell the whole courtroom was, you know, different while that was being played.

The prosecution methodically laid out its case to the jury with all the audio and video evidence they'd collected.

Coreen Schnepf: … What you're about to see is a compilation of information from the defendant's cellphone, as well as surveillance videos that we have at the various locations … What you're gonna see first is some GPS coordinates.

Schnepf says Rickman could no longer follow Gloria after he slashed Gloria's tires and put her truck -- with those AirTags -- out of commission.

Coreen Schnepf: … as soon as he slashed the tires on Gloria's vehicle, he could no longer track her …

Rickman was forced to more or less guess where Gloria was and, in the days that followed, Schnepf says he spent a lot of time sitting outside her parents' house where she was living.

Natalie Morales: So all of this is breaking this no contact order, right?

Greg Greer: Yeah… probably every letter of the – the no contact order, he violated.

Coreen Schnepf:  … He's just constantly going back to her house.

Natalie Morales: Back and forth. Back and forth.

Coreen Schnepf: Is she there? Is she at her house?

Natalie Morales: … it's crazy to see this like this …

Sometime around 6 p.m. on Jan. 2,  the night of Gloria's murder, Schnepf says Rickman turned off his cellphone and didn't turn it back on until he was at the Home Motel immediately after the murder.

Coreen Schnepf: The fact that he doesn't turn his phone off, except for at the time point of the murder, helps us to show that it was him.

To buttress their case, prosecutors put Brieanna Eberly on the stand.

Brieanna Eberly: … I remember looking over at him. Seeing him, look at her picture. … And he started to cry. And I remember it made me so angry. …  I had never felt so furious in my life. …

Brieanna Eberly: Billy didn't just take Gloria's … physical life. … Billy took everything. He took a daughter, a mother, a friend, a sister, a cousin … he took it all in a blink of an eye with no -- no regard.

The loss of Gloria Choi weighed heavily on Greg Greer as the prosecution ended. He knew this was going to be the last case of his career.

 

Natalie Morales: So he was surveilling, he was stalking. He was hunting that night.

Greg Greer: Absolutely

And Greg Greer was confident he'd proven that to the jury.

Gloria Choi's murder was preventable, says family's attorney

When it was time to present Billy Rickman's defense, his lawyer did not call any witnesses and did not put Rickman on the stand. He argued in his closing that investigators failed to look at any other possible suspects, said prosecutor Greg Greer.

Greg Greer: The defense tried to make a case that somebody else did it …

Rickman's defense attorney told jurors that the police investigation was incomplete because Gloria never named Rickman on her 911 call and instead described the person who hit her car only as her "boyfriend."

GLORIA CHOI to 911: … I think my boyfriend is following me. He just hit my car.

The trial lasted two weeks. It only took the jury about two hours to reach their verdict: guilty of aggravated murder. Rickman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Meaghan Driscoll: Law enforcement didn't take any steps to locate or arrest Rickman in the days before Gloria's death.

Gloria's parents believe Gloria should still be alive, says Meaghan Driscoll. She has filed a wrongful death suit on behalf of Gloria's son against the city of Lakewood and its police department.

Meaghan Driscoll: They wanted accountability for what happened to their daughter and their sister and their loved one. And they believed that it was mismanaged and mishandled by law enforcement. …this woman was deprived of, uh, justice and should not have been killed.

Driscoll says one of the ironies of the case is that the prosecution used Rickman's egregious stalking as evidence to help them secure the homicide conviction.

Natalie Morales: So, that very same evidence that was presented the homicide trial, you're now using in your … wrongful death lawsuit to show what you believe is the Lakewood Police not doing their jobs …

Meaghan Driscoll: Right. I mean, this death was incredibly foreseeable … And we know that from the prosecution. We know that the jury convicted him, this wasn't a mystery of who did this or why? Um, it was as foreseeable as it was preventable.

Natalie Morales: You're focused on Lakewood Police and what they did and did not do. So, outline for us what should they have done, plain and simple?

Meaghan Driscoll: … Plain and simple, Lakewood PD should have found Rickman and arrested him to protect Gloria.

Russ Hicks was hired by Driscoll as an expert witness, in part because he has a special connection to the case.

Russ Hicks: My name is Russ Hicks. I'm a retired law enforcement officer … I was a lead instructor for domestic violence for many years.

Russ Hicks: … So I know they received the proper training because I was their instructor at the police academy. … and I taught the three officers that were involved in this case. 

And Hicks says those officers failed Gloria. One example: one of the Lakewood officers says he left a voice mail for Rickman which Hicks considers a mistake.

Russ Hicks: I think it conveys a message that we're not taking this seriously, and we're not looking for you, just saying that we'd like to talk to you.

Meaghan Driscoll: And the sad irony of it is when you call a domestic violence perpetrator like Rickman … that actually just escalates the danger to the victim even more.

That officer says he drove around looking for Rickman's BMW, but Driscoll says there is no police record of that. Driscoll also says Gloria told the officer she believed Rickman was staying at a nearby motel and, as it turned out, the Home Motel is only a six-minute walk from the Holiday Inn.

Meaghan Driscoll: It would have been so easy to find him because he was there to be found.

Driscoll also says officers failed Gloria by not following up on the detailed description of the truck Rickman was driving that was given to them by the desk clerk at the Holiday Inn.

HOTEL DESK CLERK TO 911: He's driving a Chevy Colorado. It's got one light out.

Meaghan Driscoll: In normal law enforcement practice, they should send out a BOLO or "be on the lookout" saying, this is a beige Chevy Colorado, broken taillights, look for this guy. They didn't do that. He was half a block away.

Some 48 hours before her murder, Driscoll says Gloria gave one of the officers a comprehensive seven-page document. In it, Gloria details the many times she said Rickman violated the no contact order -- his emails, his calls, and a still frame from one of the Holiday Inn videos. Even with that report in hand, Driscoll says police took no action.

Meaghan Driscoll: They had everything they needed and more to arrest him.

In addressing the Choi family's wrongful death lawsuit, a city lawyer told a judge in January 2025 the police have no obligation to go and arrest someone like Rickman if he is not at the scene.

At that hearing, the judge asked the city's lawyer: "A police officer could still sit back and do nothing in response to a complaint by a domestic violence victim because there's no duty to look for the abuser?" The city's lawyer answered, "That's correct …"

John Justice, the attorney representing the city and the Lakewood Police Department, said he could not comment on pending litigation.

Natalie Morales: Tell me a little bit about how she changed your life.

Brieanna Eberly: … She always reminded me that I was a good person no matter what … and that I was a good mom because I doubted myself a lot and she reminded me every day that I was good.

Natalie Morales: Mmm. How much did that change you in your self-worth?

Brieanna Eberly: (sighs) So much. Um, more than I could probably describe. It gave me hope.

Prosecutor Greg Greer retired in 2024. He's still trying to, in his words. find his way back to humanity and forget the violence that surrounded him for so many years. But he's still haunted by Gloria's last words on that 911 call.

Greg Greer: I did learn the Korean language while I was in -- in the Air Force. And I could hear very clearly … Gloria calling for her mother …

Natalie Morales: And what is the word that you hear?

Greg Greer: It's … Eomma -- and she's just frantically, desperation calling for her mother … It tells you a lot about human nature … it's one of the saddest things you'll ever hear.

Gloria's son lives with relatives in a different state.

As of May 2026, the wrongful death lawsuit against Lakewood and its police department remained unresolved.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

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Produced by Paul La Rosa. Megan Kelly Brown is the associate producer. Jane Shevlin is the associate producer.. Greg Fisher is the development producer. Atticus Brady, Michelle Harris, Eric Modena and Diana DeCilio are the editors. Anthony Batson  is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

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