Kriti Mehrotra
When 37-year-old artist, wife, and mother Robin Lawrence was found dead inside her Springfield, Virginia, home in November 1994, the entire community was left shaken to the core. That’s because, as explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Closing the Cold Case of Robin Lawrence,’ she was brutally stabbed over 49 times in the master bedroom while she vehemently tried fighting for her life. Arguably the most shocking aspect, though, was that there seemed to be no motive – there were no signs of assault, burglary, or perversion, and even her toddler daughter was left alive.
Nicole Lawrence Was 2 Years Old When She Lost Her Mother
It was in 1986 when Robin Warr first came across Ollie Lawrence Jr. while visiting a mutual friend in Washington, and they immediately realized there was an innate spark between them. However, since she was in a troubled marriage at the time, it wasn’t until she filed for divorce and relocated for good that she began dating the man she had met one fateful evening a year prior. The truth is, they had both been in some tough relationships in the past, so that’s what they connected over before their alliance turned into a whirlwind romance full of affection, joy, and love.
Robin and Ollie soon moved in together to a beautiful cul-de-sac home in the 8600 block of Reseca Lane in Springfield, Virginia, which is where they also tied the knot on December 30, 1989. Less than 3 years later, in 1992, they happily began expanding their young family by welcoming an adorable baby girl into the world, whom they decided to name Nicole Lawrence. She was the apple of her parents’ eyes, so they did everything in their power to give her a good life while also planning for her future, unaware that everything would turn upside down in 1994.
Nicole was just 2 years old when Ollie had to go to the Bahamas for a business trip the weekend before Thanksgiving, so Robin or the nanny took care of the toddler for the majority of Friday. According to records, on that fateful November 18 evening, the mother dropped off the nanny at the metro at 6:30 pm before returning home to her young daughter without any issues. However, she didn’t pick up her husband’s call that night, nor did she speak to anyone on Saturday, driving Ollie to call her friends early Sunday morning and ask if they could check on her.
It was around 11 am when Robin’s friends arrived at the Lawrence residence, where they immediately noticed the weekend newspapers lying at the front door and nothing but a window open. When nobody answered the doorbell, one of them leaned in the window and called out for both Robin and Nicole, which is when the 2-year-old appeared in her sleepwear while sucking a pacifier. It was evident Nicole hadn’t been bathed or changed for a while, just for it to turn out she had actually been roaming the house alone for almost 2 days while her mother lay dead in her bedroom. Thus, Ollie rushed back, was questioned by officials, and technically cleared before he could reunite with his daughter.
Nicole Lawrence Prefers to Lead a Quiet Life Away From the Limelight
In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Ollie realized their Reseca Lane house was only a home for them if Robin was there, so he signed the papers to put it up for sale within 16 days. They hence moved out in December, but before they did so, he allowed his wife’s parents to set up the master bedroom in the way they knew sher would have loved as a way to honor her memory. Subsequently, Ollie decided it would be best to start afresh, so he decided to move into a new home in an entirely different city – Alexandria, Virginia – alongside his toddler daughter and her nanny.
Then-43-year-old Ollie chose to keep Nicole out of the limelight in the years to follow, but since then, it appears as if she herself prefers to keep things that way to protect her privacy. Nevertheless, from the interviews the father gave, we know that they both desperately wanted Robin’s case to be solved as time passed, so as to not only get justice for her but also a sense of closure for themselves. Therefore, when Stephan Smerk pleaded guilty to the heinous murder in 2024, they both finally breathed a sigh of relief, with Ollie even attending all the related court proceedings.
Later on, Ollie, the man who raised Nicole alone, said, “This has impacted her greatly. She’s definitely staying strong… I think it’s hard for her to talk about it because she was so young when it happened. She doesn’t have much of a remembrance of her mom.” During Stephan’s sentencing hearing in March 2025, even the presiding judge stated, “It is beyond callous to know that Mr. Smerk left a 2-year-old child alone with her freshly dead, bleeding mother. She never even knew the basics of her mother, such as what made her laugh.” So, understandably, around the age of 33, Nicole Lawrence prefers to lead a quiet life well away from the spotlight these days. All we know is that she still resides in Virginia, from where she continues to maintain a close bond with her father while also being surrounded by other loved ones.
Read More: Where is Stephan Smerk Now? Update on Robin Lawrence’s Killer
