TROY, N.Y. — The day before her daughter's killer was supposed to be sentenced in Rensselaer County Court, Debra Napoli says she is in a better place.

It has been about a month since Johnny Oquendo was convicted for murdering Debra's daughter, Noel Alkaramla. Each day becomes a little easier and a little more joyful for the mother who lost everything. 

"Yes, I am in somewhat of a better place. But also, I am approaching 56 years old," Napoli told Spectrum News in an exclusive interview. "And I have a lot of fears, because wherever I go, it's a new beginning."

Since Thanksgiving 2015, life has changed more than Debra could have imagined: she spent that holiday on the streets of Troy, searching for a daughter whom we now know was already murdered. This Thanksgiving, the third one without her daughter, Debra spent alone in Florida.

Thursday, just four days before Christmas, Debra was expected to be on the witness stand in Troy, speaking directly to convicted murderer Johnny Oquendo. Now, Oquendo's sentencing has been postponed. She gave Spectrum News a preview of what she plans to say.

"He needs to know that he had absolutely no right to do this to my belated daughter, Noel," she said. "He needs to know that he has completely changed my life."

Debra says she spent her savings and her disability payments on travel to and from Troy for the past two years. She relied on the generosity of friends to get to court almost every day of Oquendo's murder trial — and she tearfully watched as Oquendo was convicted for killing Noel Alkaramla and throwing her body in the Hudson River.

The conviction came at the end of a murder trial that Debra calls "a zoo."

"The bestiality ... it devastated me," Napoli says now, referring to witness Amanda Whitman. She was vital to the prosecution's case, but was relentlessly attacked by defense attorneys for her past, which includes prior sexual contact with animals.

"I need to say this: Thank you, Amanda Whitman," Debra Napoli says now, after a month of reflection. "She didn't have to do what she did, but it took a very strong woman to stand there, be slandered, and suffer with this for the rest of her life."

After his sentencing, Debra Napoli will likely never see Johnny Oquendo again. He is expected to sentenced to 25 years to life in New York state prison.

Meanwhile, Debra plans to move back to Florida. She also has plans to lobby state and federal lawmakers for a new "Noel's Law," which she says would allow parents to easily access their adult children's medical records in times of emergency. Such a law would not have saved Noel, but it could save other families in crisis.

That is what Debra hopes for.

"Because no one deserves to walk in my shoes," she said. "That's what I want to change, because it's painful. Painful is an understatement."

According to Oquendo's defense attorney Bill Roberts, the sentencing has been postponed until January 11. Roberts says it was delayed due to an issue with the presentencing investigation.