ASTORIA, Queens (PIX11) -- When Deirdre McKenna sat down with PIX11 News Wednesday afternoon, she had two goals in mind: defend her daughter's character and find the man who wheeled Claudia McKenna's body on a dolly in the early hours of Oct. 12.

"She didn't want to leave this earth," the mother said of her daughter, who was 26 when she was found under a bush in Queens Village last month. "She wouldn't do anything to make that happen."

Claire McKenna was an aspiring singer who created music with her identical twin sister, Sarah.
"She was beautiful and gentle and had a beautiful voice," the mother said through tears. "She just was kind to everyone. She never hurt anyone."

Claudia McKenna's father said the young woman had a medical marijuana card, but the family refuses to let police steer the investigation toward a simple overdose event.

"I think it's a homicide; that's my gut," Deirdre McKenna said in her living room.