Joan worked for the New York Gay Rights Coalition with her partner, Maureen Manning. Eventually, she and Manning entered into a relationship and Joan planned to leave her husband Sidney when Emmy was older. Her gambling addicted husband once pawned her earrings to pay a debt, and when she couldn't find them while preparing to go on a business trip, Sidney accused their housekeeper of stealing them, which eventually resulted in Vazquez being fired. Last February, the family went skiing in Vermont, but Joan had to leave early, leaving Sidney and Emmy alone together in a cabin.
Sidney, who was drinking, raped Emmy the first night while they were there and continued to rape her since then. When Vazquez found out, both she and Emmy tried to tell Joan but she either did not believe them or was more concerned about the safety of the world than about the safety of her own daughter and did nothing.
When Emmy started to think about killing herself, she, Carmen, and the latter's brother Jimmy all planned to kill Joan and Sidney to save Emmy from the incest. On the night of the home invasion, when Joan heard the doorbell, she went to open the door to see who it was. Jimmy, who was wearing a mask, promptly shot her to death.