Ciara

Summary

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One of Their Own – Episode: Ciara (November 18, 2025)

Podcast: KPBS’ One of Their Own

Host: Katie Hyson

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Episode Overview

This episode of One of Their Own probes the mysterious death of Ciara Estrada, a 25-year-old San Diego police officer found with a gunshot wound between her eyes, her service weapon in her lap, and her death swiftly ruled a suicide by her own department. Host Katie Hyson explores questions raised by Ciara’s family—questions about the original investigation, departmental culture around misconduct, and the real story behind Ciara’s death. The episode intertwines moments from Ciara’s life, her viral act of kindness as an officer, her family’s memories, and the unresolved grief and doubt surrounding her case.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Scene and Immediate Aftermath

• Ciara’s last night: New Year’s Eve, radiant and alive, seen in party photos, celebrating with loved ones.
  • [00:34] “She headed to a party at the Hilton Hotel overlooking the bay. Photos taken around 10pm show her smiling, radiant.” —Katie Hyson
• Discovery of her body: Ciara found in her bathroom the following day, in the same dress, with her gun in her lap.
  • [00:34] "Her fellow officers found her in that dress on her bathroom floor with a bullet hole between her eyes. Her gun was in her lap. A fired bullet casing was still lodged inside. Soot marked a finger on each hand."
• Police response: The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) investigates and rules the death a suicide almost immediately—with little external scrutiny.
  • [00:34] “San Diego police investigated her death themselves. Almost immediately, they called it a suicide.”

Ciara in the Public Eye and Her Character

• The viral video: In 2016, Ciara gained viral fame for her compassionate response to a panhandler.
  • [03:26] “The video is just Ciara doing her job.”
  • [04:10] Ciara Estrada: “For me, talking to people is a big thing, and the way you talk to people is a big thing.”
  • [04:02] The man filming: “You’re the first person who was nice. The female cops are always much nicer.”
• Contrasts in coverage: Ciara’s kindness as an officer gets millions of views, while her death goes unreported by local media.
  • [04:24] “Some cops don’t realize this simple video of Ciara received more attention than her sudden and complicated death.”
• Family’s portrayal: The Estradas remember Ciara as deeply empathetic, responsible, and driven—a daughter and sister who always helped others, excelling in academics, sports, and eventually, in the police academy.

Family’s Search for Answers

• Unanswered questions: Ciara’s family expresses ongoing doubts about the investigation and its integrity, haunted by the rapid suicide determination.
  • [17:06] “The San Diego police investigated Sierra's death and closed the case. But for her family, it's still wide open for us.” —Katie Hyson
  • [19:47] Julie Estrada: “I will tell you flat out to your face and anybody that my daughter did not kill herself. She did not kill herself.”
• Last days and signs: The family saw no signals of depression or suicidal intent. She had just moved, was making plans for the future, and shopping for groceries days before her death.
  • [15:59] Larry Estrada: “She just moved into a new apartment. She was so happy to move in and be on her own and decorating the apartment... These weren’t traditional signs of someone who is... not thinking of the future.”
  • [16:19] Julie Estrada: “Two nights before she died, she was grocery shopping.”
• Ongoing grief: The Estradas live in a state of suspended mourning, surrounded by Ciara’s possessions and reminders of her life.
  • [17:15] Larry Estrada: “For me, it’s January 1st all the time. Holidays, it’s always January 1st, 2018...”
  • [10:24] “Her wallet with cash still inside... and an expired coupon. Sierra was thrifty.”

Portrait of Ciara: Ambitions, Values, and Relationships

• Family bonds: Stories from siblings Cheyenne and the oldest sister illustrate a tight-knit family where Ciara played peacemaker and supporter.
  • [07:33] Julie Estrada: “Sierra was the mediator and all the family. She could always make anybody see the other side.”
• Personal resilience and achievement: Through high school, college, choir, sports, and police academy, Ciara set high standards and thrived on challenge.
  • [11:46] Larry Estrada: “She wanted to try choir, she wanted to go out to be a cheerleader but she wanted to try softball but she wanted to try soccer..."
  • [15:03] Larry Estrada (about academy training): “You have to beat each other up. It’s called fight for life, right?”
• Kindness on and off duty: Cheyenne describes Ciara as an “earth angel,” someone who was consistent in her warmth at home and with strangers.
  • [15:36] Cheyenne Estrada: “I don’t think there’s anything that people would need to know more about her because that video just shows all her character of who she was. An earth angel.”
• Family mementos: The Estradas preserve her memory through quilts, her locker door, and even feathers Julie believes are signs sent from Ciara’s spirit.
  • [19:03] Julie Estrada: "Since Sierra’s died, the angels have left me feathers.”

Difficulty Facing the Truth, and Hints of Complications

• Spiritual coping: Julie Estrada finds comfort in believing Ciara’s spirit is with her, guiding and helping strangers.
  • [18:23] “She’s still doing from beyond... her soul is going through me, telling me, mom, do this, do that, help this guy.” —Julie Estrada
• A complicated relationship: The episode alludes to possible domestic abuse and a recent breakup, suggesting darker currents beneath Ciara’s outward poise and happiness.
  • [20:04] Julie Estrada: “You don’t know what Sierra went through the week before she died. She broke up with Eric.”
  • [20:36] Katie Hyson and Cheyenne hint that the next episode will explore how her relationship may have contributed to her struggles.
    • [20:36] Cheyenne Estrada: “But I do know that that relationship... kind of tore her down.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the viral video and kindness as policing:
  • “For me, talking to people is a big thing and the way you talk to people is a big thing.” —Ciara Estrada [04:10]
• On family resemblance and loss:
  • “You look so much like her.” —Katie Hyson to Cheyenne Estrada [07:13]
  • "Every time she laughs, I’m like, oh my God." —Julie Estrada [08:00]
• Enduring presence of grief:
  • “For me, it’s January 1st all the time.” —Larry Estrada [17:15]
• Refusal to accept the official story:
  • “I will tell you flat out to your face and anybody that my daughter did not kill herself.” —Julie Estrada [19:47]
• On Ciara’s spirit and signs:
  • “Since Sierra’s died, the angels have left me feathers.” —Julie Estrada [19:03]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ciara’s last night and discovery (00:34–03:05)
• Viral video and policing style (03:05–04:24)
• Host's context and family introduction (04:24–06:35)
• Family stories and memories (06:35–14:27)
• Ciara’s career ambitions (14:27–15:09)
• Police academy training (15:03–15:30)
• Family’s belief—no warning signs (15:54–16:19)
• Grieving process and mementos (17:06–19:47)
• Belief in spiritual signs (19:03–19:28)
• Hints at relationship struggles and next episode preview (20:04–20:36)

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Tone and Style

Katie Hyson maintains a compassionate, investigative tone, balancing journalistic rigor with deep empathy for Ciara’s grieving family. Family members speak with emotional candor—recalling intimate memories, voicing disbelief in the suicide ruling, and revealing their ongoing quest for closure. The conversation is often poignant, interspersed with laughter, heaviness, and a persistent sense of unresolved tragedy.

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Summary for New Listeners

This gripping episode sets the stage for a deeper investigation into the death of Ciara Estrada, using family interviews to challenge the police narrative and hint at wider issues of departmental accountability, domestic abuse, and trauma. Rich with memory and acute with loss, it invites listeners to question: what really happened to one of their own?

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Transcript

[Katie Hyson]

This podcast contains discussion of suicide and domestic abuse. We discuss opinions expressed by others. We at KPBS don't endorse those opinions. No one has been charged with a crime relating to Sierra Estrada's death, and we don't intend to imply that anyone should be charged or engaged in wrongdoing.

[Julie Estrada]

Get off of me.

[Katie Hyson]

Trevor, stop. This is San Diego police officer Sierra Estrada playing with her beagle. Trevor. She took this video in December 2017, her last month alive. She was 25 years old. On New Year's Eve, she went to her older sister's house. They put waves in her long hair, painted her lips red to match her floor length sparkling dress, hung fake diamonds in her ears. Her parents stopped by. She said she'd see them. The next weekend, she headed to a party at the Hilton Hotel overlooking the bay. Photos taken around 10pm show her smiling, radiant. The next day, her fellow officers found her in that dress on her bathroom floor with a bullet hole between her eyes. Her gun was in her lap. A fired bullet casing was still lodged inside. Soot marked a finger on each hand. San Diego police investigated her death themselves. Almost immediately, they called it a suicide. I'm Katie Hyson. I report on racial justice and social equity for KBBS News in San Diego. And this is one of their own.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Katie Hyson]

It doesn't appear local news outlets ever reported her death, but Ciara grabbed the world's attention when she was alive. A video of her went viral in 2016. Eight and a half million views on YouTube alone. The video is just Ciara doing her job.

[Police Officer]

Somebody inside said you're out here panhandling.

[Set (Panhandler)]

I am, but I am not aggressively panhandling, so I don't think I'm breaking any laws.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

You're not.

[Katie Hyson]

It's titled Finally a nice cop. What's your name?

[Cheyenne Estrada]

Set.

[Julie Estrada]

Set.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

Mm.

[Katie Hyson]

It was posted by a man the nearby business called to complain about.

[Police Officer]

You have every right to be here.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

Thank you.

[Police Officer]

I mean, just make sure you're not obstructing the sidewalks. Of course, you know, some people are just a little intimidated. I'm just gonna take some of your info down. It's not a ticket.

[Katie Hyson]

No problem.

[Set (Panhandler)]

You need me get my ID out for you?

[Cheyenne Estrada]

Perfect.

[Police Officer]

Yeah, if you have that.

[Katie Hyson]

He was struck, by the way she treated him.

[Set (Panhandler)]

The female cops are always much nicer. And I've been taping asshole cops for the past week. And you're the first person who was nice.

[Police Officer]

Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, we can't all like police the same way. It's all discretion. It's all, you know, for me, talking to people is a big thing, and the way you talk to people is a big thing.

[Set (Panhandler)]

So people caught.

[Katie Hyson]

Some cops don't realize this simple video of Ciara received more attention than her sudden and complicated death. I'm telling you this story today because seven years later, I got an email from Cierra's mom. She reached out because she saw a story I wrote about a lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged domestic violence by a male San Diego police officer against the female officer he married. And it described a department culture that both enabled it and covered it up. In five years of reporting on this beat in San Diego and elsewhere, these kinds of complaints have become familiar to me. Police departments are expected to enforce the laws that keep our society functioning, and they're given a lot of power to do that. But they're also real flawed workplaces with conflicts and culture issues. And sometimes those flaws collide with that power, especially when they investigate one of their own. In this podcast, I explore Cierra's story and SDPD's investigation of her death. How did they reach their conclusions? Did they dig deep enough? Would they have handled it differently if the people involved weren't their co workers? These questions have haunted Cierra's mother. She says Cierra's story, the real story, was never told. Her family wasn't up for talking to reporters in the shock that followed, but now they're ready. So on a clear April day, I make the hour drive north to Murrieta to meet them. When I arrive, Sierra's father waves me into the driveway.

[Julie Estrada]

I'm Katie.

[Katie Hyson]

Nice to meet you. Larry is retired military. It shows in his posture.

[Julie Estrada]

You made it.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

Hi.

[Police Officer]

Nice to meet you.

[Katie Hyson]

Sierra's mother, Julie, is about half Larry's height and twice as loud. Their house is covered in Easter decorations.

[Julie Estrada]

Yeah, the holidays were so special to her. It was everything.

[Katie Hyson]

You know her meaning. Sierra. She's there, too. Among all the eggs and rabbits and symbols of new life are reminders of her death. Larger than life sized portraits of her hang above our heads. You look so much like her.

[Julie Estrada]

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

[Katie Hyson]

Sierra and her mother share the same brown hair, big eyes, and wide cheekbones. One portrait of Cierra hangs in a circle with her three siblings. An older Brother and sister and a younger sister.

[Julie Estrada]

My oldest daughter and my youngest daughter are water and oil. Sierra was the mediator and all the family. She could always make anybody see the other side.

[Katie Hyson]

Cheyenne, the youngest is here too. She's 31 now. Older than her older sister would ever be.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

People at New Sierra, they say me and her talk alike, laugh when laugh similar or look alike.

[Julie Estrada]

Yeah, every time she laughs, I'm like, oh my God.

[Katie Hyson]

Sierra. Cheyenne and Sierra grew up together, took baths together as kids. They shared a bedroom. Years of falling asleep to nighttime chit chat and back scratches. Sierra taught Cheyenne how to drive on the freeway. A secret from their mom.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

Yeah, we're the same zodiac sign too. So that made it harder.

[Katie Hyson]

What zodiac sign?

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

Oh, we're both Aquarius. We were definitely closer though than me and my older sister. So our relationship was really hard to lose her. Yeah, If I ever struggled in school, she'd be the first one to help me with work or anything or anything that I had trouble with going on. Sierra was the number one person who was there for me to help during any type of situation that I was going through. Yeah, so that's. We were really tight.

[Katie Hyson]

What was the. You said you're both Aquarius, so.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

Yeah.

[Katie Hyson]

What's the vibe? What's the personality?

[Cheyenne Estrada]

We just, we're not really like the life of the party people.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

Like, if we ever went to a.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

Function, we're usually the quiet, the reserved, watching from afar. But we seem to make an impact on the people that we do interact with. And she was the kind of like a girl's girl. She'd be the person you'd call if you needed a maid of honor. She was that like, to anyone and.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

Everyone she met.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

She would literally give you the shirt off her back to total strangers. So I don't think there was anything that she kept private. Like the way she was with her family was the same way she was out in the public. Very just like the girl you would want by your side through anything.

[Katie Hyson]

Like any sisters, they fought, like what. What kinds of things would you get into it over?

[Cheyenne Estrada]

You know, it's so sad with memories they start to fade, but I don't know, like movies. So she used to love to stay up late and pull like all nighters. So she just liked to stay up the whole entire night. And if I was like, I can't do it anymore, I have to go to sleep, she'd be like, oh my God, come on, don't leave me hanging.

[Katie Hyson]

Memories fade, but reminders cover the home. Sarah's Locker door from the precinct's changing room hangs in the garage. It's covered in messages from her fellow officers. Truly a beautiful spirit. We'll miss trying to save the world.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

With you but will always cherish our friendship forever.

[Katie Hyson]

Your partner in one corner of the garage, child sized handprints are pressed into the cement floor. Sierra's It's a small thing that makes the house feel impossible to sell. Her parents still have her wallet with cash inside they can't bring themselves to spend and an expired coupon. Sierra was thrifty.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

So like a mason jar glass that's gonna be used for Q tips or a candle glass that's clear like I can use this to hold hair ties and nail polishes.

[Larry Estrada]

So she saved all her T shirts or jerseys. Even once when she was like in fifth grade softball or something. All her clothes went from her apartment basically into a tote. And then so when you open the tote up you basically smell her.

[Katie Hyson]

A quilt made over T shirts covers an entire wall in a room downstairs. It's a patchwork of an active, varied life.

[Larry Estrada]

She wanted to try choir, she wanted to go out to be a cheerleader but she wanted to try softball but she wanted to try soccer. So she wanted to be in the military. She went to the Coast Guard Academy prep school.

[Julie Estrada]

Went to hell week. She went to hell week at the.

[Larry Estrada]

She did Connecticut, did ROTC in high school, was in a leadership position there.

[Julie Estrada]

The commanding second command in high school.

[Larry Estrada]

When she went to San Diego State in her freshman year she told us, she said mom, dad, hey, there's this opportunity to be on the rowing team.

[Julie Estrada]

I said, rowing?

[Larry Estrada]

The only boat you ever been in is, you know, on the beach. I mean she never rowing. That's a pretty tough sport.

[Katie Hyson]

Her mom shows me a photo of Sierra's hands after a crew race. They're covered in open wounds and blisters. She demanded a lot of herself. I find more evidence of this in her high school scrapbook. It's this first line. I was not one to accomplish much in elementary school.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

I don't know what that would mean.

[Katie Hyson]

When she writes that hard on herself. Yeah, the scrapbook is a time capsule of the aughts. Sierra was just months younger than me so these photos I've never seen are familiar. Angled down onto side bangs and skinny jeans and raccoon eyeliner. The pages are filled with twilight and crisp brown notes between friends and inside jokes. This is addressed to Ms. Shakira Estrada living at 32. My hips don't lie court. Oh my God.

[Julie Estrada]

What? Shakira. Matthew named.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

That's hysterical.

[Julie Estrada]

Shakira.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

Oh my God.

[Katie Hyson]

Her head seemed tight on her shoulders for someone so young. Her family says she wasn't a drinker in college. She took care of the girls who were cleaned up their throw up and made sure they got home safe. According to her family, her biggest vice was might have been monster energy drinks.

[Julie Estrada]

But she was obsessed with those. Like I'd fire cases of monsters, right?

[Cheyenne Estrada]

She like needed those. Those were like a necessity.

[Julie Estrada]

I'd fetch breakfast burritos for her when she'd come home.

[Katie Hyson]

She didn't date in school. She meticulously planned her workouts. The documents folder on her laptop is filled with motivational quotes to print out. Like it's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. Sierra had wanted to follow in her dad's footsteps.

[Larry Estrada]

She wanted to kind of lean in the military. I tried to convince her not to go enlisted. She was a terrible test taker. Even though she graduated cum laude, she just couldn't take standardized tests. So anyway, she got talked to by somebody at San Diego state and tried to go be a police officer.

[Katie Hyson]

So instead of the military, she joined the police academy. It didn't surprise anyone in the family. It was on brand. For Ciara, the academy was demanding and physical. She showed her family bruises from their wrestling matches.

[Larry Estrada]

You have to beat each other up. It's called fight for life, right?

[Julie Estrada]

It's called fight for your life.

[Larry Estrada]

So shooting, driving, the academics. I knew she would get through all that.

[Sibling (Older Sister or Brother)]

She blew it away.

[Katie Hyson]

She did good.

[Larry Estrada]

But it's fight for your life where you're basically you're hand to hand combat with an instructor and he's. And it's called fight for your life. So if you're ever in a struggle and the guy's going for your gun and you're wrestling each other on the ground, you have to come out the winner and you have to show your debt.

[Julie Estrada]

You have to show the other officers at the academy teaching that you have what it takes.

[Katie Hyson]

As I'm trying to understand more about who Ciara was, Cheyenne says I think.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

A lot of people out there already know about her just from that video. I don't think there's anything that people would need to know more about her because that video just shows all her character of who she was. An earth angel.

[Katie Hyson]

Her family says they didn't see any warning signs for suicide.

[Larry Estrada]

You know, she just moved into a new apartment. She was so happy to move in and be on her own and decorating the apartment, getting groceries that weekend. So these weren't traditional signs of someone who is. Someone who was not thinking of the future. She was thinking of the future. Yeah, she left. No, there was no.

[Julie Estrada]

Two nights before she died, she was grocery shopping.

[Katie Hyson]

The story continues after the break.

[Miss Lolly]

This season on Everybody's Doing it with Miss Lolly. I'm going to classes, workshops, and private venues designed to enrich and broaden our sexual horizons. And I'm taking you with me. I meet with an erotic mindfulness coach, get a pelvic floor exam, talk with new moms, and even put on my dancing shoes and take a beginning burlesque class and much more. Find season two of Everybody's Doing it with Miss Lolly wherever you get your podcast and come join me in my search for fun and sexy adventures that are available to you.

[Katie Hyson]

The San Diego police investigated Sierra's death and closed the case. But for her family, it's still wide open for us.

[Larry Estrada]

For me, it's January 1st all the time. Holidays, it's always January 1st, 2018. Because like today, I mean, it's not your fault, but it's always the time doesn't move on past that date.

[Katie Hyson]

In their living room, they put on the DVD slideshow that played at Ciara's funeral. For the first time during my visit to the Estrada's house, it goes quiet. We watch 25 Years Flick by in minutes. Halloween costumes and a first communion dress and a graduation cap. Sierra grows taller. Blonde highlights appear in her hair. Then it's slicked back into a tight bun. A badge appears on her chest. The photos stop. But her mom thinks her spirit goes on.

[Julie Estrada]

She's still doing from beyond, you know, being a good Samaritan and humanitarian. From beyond the grave, you know, her soul is going through me, telling me, mom, do this, do that, help this guy.

[Katie Hyson]

Julie believes Ciara sends her strangers to help.

[Julie Estrada]

She sends them to me because I'm like.

[Katie Hyson]

She hears the footsteps of her ghost upstairs because we can hear him walking. She visits mediums who give her all the answers the police never did. Maybe her presence is there, but she sees signs everywhere.

[Julie Estrada]

They kept pulling me to this area.

[Katie Hyson]

In numbers and nature. She shows me a large vase and Ziploc bags full of bird feathers.

[Julie Estrada]

Since Sierra's died, the angels have left me feathers.

[Katie Hyson]

Oh, my gosh, that's a lot. Larry, who has not sold on angels or ghosts or mediums, offers another explanation for finding feathers.

[Larry Estrada]

We walk the dogs.

[Katie Hyson]

Julie is undeterred. Maybe. She says Sierra's spirit is at the table with us right now.

[Julie Estrada]

They know everything about us, everything that we're doing. I'm sure Sierra's sitting right here. Thanks for showing up, Sierra.

[Katie Hyson]

She believes Sierra is invested in their quest for answers and justice because she doesn't believe Sierra killed herself.

[Julie Estrada]

I will tell you flat out to your face and anybody that my daughter did not kill herself. She did not kill herself.

[Katie Hyson]

Sierra worked hard to keep her life in order, but no one's life is as simple as they plan.

[Julie Estrada]

You don't know what Sierra went through the week before she died. She broke. Broke up with Eric.

[Katie Hyson]

Next time on One of their Own. We look at Sierra's complicated reality with her boyfriend, another San Diego police officer. She had so much, like, optimism and so much like. Like she was living for the future.

[Cheyenne Estrada]

But I do know that that relationship.

[Katie Hyson]

Kind of tore her down. If you or someone you know have thoughts of suicide or need emotional support, Please call or text 988help is available 24. One of Their Own is produced by me, Katie Hyson and edited by David Washburn with support from Elizabeth Hames. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.