April 19, 1991 is a day David Hibbs can never forget.
He could not wait to get home from elementary school to show his mom his honor roll certificate.
School got out early, so 12-year-old David rushed home hoping to catch his mom before she left for work.
But as David arrived home and headed down the driveway, he noticed something.
Black smoke was coming out of the side of the house.
He ran around to the back door and opened it to a plume of black smoke. Then he saw the flames.
He ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
Firefighters responded to the home quickly, as his sister Angie and then his father Charlie, arrived at the scene.
David was placed in an ambulance for safety. It was in that ambulance that he would learn his 35-year-old mother, Joy Hibbs, had died in the fire.
Evidence later revealed that the fire was no accident. It was arson.
Joy’s autopsy would reveal something even more horrifying. It was not the fire that killed her. She’d been murdered.
Joy’s family was distraught. They remember her as a devoted wife and mother.
So who was responsible for Joy’s murder?
It’s a question that would haunt the Hibbs family for decades…
To find out what happened, watch the full episode “Justice for Joy” on Peacock now.
You can also watch on the NBC app or listen to our podcast. Plus, listen to the latest episode of “Talking Dateline” in which Blayne Alexander and Andrea Canning discuss the stories behind the story covered in the episode.