Midtown Manhattan execution murder of Brandon Woodard - Fox 2 News Headlines

The body of the Midtown Manhattan murder victim lies in the city morgue. The medical examiner's representative told me no one has shown up yet to claim it.

But Brandon Woodard is not forgotten. His high school sweetheart is speaking out exclusively to us to set the record straight.

"It was definitely something I don't think anybody expected or thought could ever happen," said Jessica Jacobs.

This chilling image of Brandon Woodard, 31, texting in the final moments of his life, his killer on his heels, has been widely circulated.

So has his arrest record: more than 20 times, according to the NYPD. But that's not who he really was, said L.A.-based model Jessica Jacobs. She is known to hip hop fans as Jessica Rabbit. She and Woodard attended the elite Campbell Hall private school in North Hollywood.

"It was aimed at kids from a wealthier background, it was very upper class," she said. "Some of the people in our class included the Olsen twins."

Jacobs took to Twitter to remember her ex-boyfriend and friend. She said his troubles with the law stemmed from family problems in the privileged household he grew up in. But she thought he was getting the better of his demons.

"At some point you get to an age where you move forward and move on," she said. "It seemed like the last couple of years Brandon had really been on the proper path to achieving his goals."

She said his daughter was a big motivation.

Cops said there were apparently other forces at work too, and none of them positive.

But Jacobs wants her friend remembered for his generosity and love of life and is hoping others who really knew him will speak up for him now.

"He was there for me when I need him to be," Jacobs said, "as far as emotionally or physically, he was always there."

Jacobs told me she saw Brandon a few weeks ago at an L.A. nightclub, and planned to catch up over the holidays.

Now it is just sinking in that won't happen, and she'll never see him again.