A 28-year-old Ohio man is facing murder and felonious assault charges in the death of a mother at her Dayton home while her two children, aged 10 and 4, were present. The suspect, identified as Kendall Beasley, was allegedly trying to start a romantic relationship with the victim.
According to PEOPLE, Beasley was apprehended and taken into custody on Thursday for last week’s fatal incident. The victim was identified as 31-year-old Shanika Bogan.
In an interview with the news outlet, Dayton Police Lt. Jason Hall said officers responded to the scene of the crime after Shanika’s mother called 911. “She was dead upon their arrival,” Hall said. “It was an intentional killing.”
Hall said the suspect and the victim had known each other “for a very short period of time” and Beasley was trying to establish a romantic relationship with her. “She was set up basically in kind of a blind date type of situation,” Hall added. “He was obviously pursuing a romantic relationship with her.”
Authorities are yet to establish the motive behind the crime. “We still have a lot of work to do on the motive end of that,” Hall said. “We are trying to piece together the events that occurred but I don’t have an answer for that right now.”
Speaking to WHIO-TV, Shanika’s mother, Tracie Berry, said she got worried when she did not hear from her daughter last Friday, prompting her to drive to her home to check up on her. Berry said she found her daughter’s body and the children when she got to her apartment. Though the children were around when their mother was killed, they did not witness the incident.
Berry, however, said her grandson told her about the conversation he had with Beasley. “He told my oldest grandson, ‘I’m going to give your mama a massage,’” she recalled. “I know he went in the bedroom and shut the door … and he came out told my grandson, ‘She’s taking a nap – get (yourself) some cereal to snack on and I’ll be back’ … and left.”
Shanika’s brother described Beasley as “the devil” and shared fond memories of his deceased sister. “She was a sweetheart,” William Bogan told WHIO-TV. “Like, literally the nicest person you will ever meet.”
Bogan also reflected on how her death is going to impact her kids, saying, “She did everything for those boys. It’s devastating. It really is.”
