By MARGARET BAKER mbbaker@sunherald.com Vincente Muñoz spent Christmas Eve tending to the needs of his dy- ing wife and listening to repeat- ed automated phone messages informing him his daughter’s killer had been freed, less than four years into a 20-year sen- tence for manslaughter. “Here I was trying to take care of my wife, who was dying,” Muñoz said. “And the phone is ringing every two hours well into Christmas Eve morning with an automated message tell- ing us he was being released on such and such date, but the date had already passed. He was al- ready out. “This is the way my wife and I spent our last Christmas togeth- er — listening to a voice telling us they were letting the mur- derer of our daughter go. This wasn’t justice for Nicole. This wasn’t justice at all.” Victoria Lynn Muñoz died not long after learning her daugh- ter’s killer had been freed. The Muñoz family had wait- ed for 14 years to learn what had happened to their daughter, Biloxi High School senior Gene- vieve “Nicole” Muñoz, who dis- appeared at age 18 shortly after her parents last saw her buck- ling her son into a car seat the morning of June 11, 1994. Nicole, they’ve said, was in good spirits that day, having persuaded the father of her child to go shopping for their baby at Edgewater Mall in Biloxi. It was the baby’s father, Michael David Lamb, now 36, who turned out to be her killer. By nightfall, Nicole’s parents had started to worry because she didn’t come home or call to say she was going to be late. They called Lamb’s home and to their astonishment, Lamb and the baby were there but Nicole was not. Nicole’s family report- ed her missing to Biloxi police, who listed Nicole as a possible runaway. The FBI later got involved, but nothing ever came of the inves- tigation. Nicole’s family had no doubt something horrible had This wasn’t justice at all’ ‘T his is the way my wife and I spent our last Christmas together — listening to a voice telling us they were letting the murderer of our daughter go. This wasn’t justice for Nicole. ... Killer released from prison after serving less than 4 years of 20-year sentence TIM ISBELL/SUN HERALD Vicente Muñoz holds a picture of his daughter, Nicole. Muñoz’s daughter was killed in 1994 by her boyfriend, Michael David Lamb, who was arrested after a 2008 Sun Herald cold case story. After serving for three years, Lamb has been released, which upset the Muñoz family. Lamb CASE TO 8A