Chester Lamar Grant, who is suspected of killing his roommate and nursing student Tamilore Odunsi, stabbing her to death only days before her graduation. Authorities say Grant fatally stabbed her after they argued over their pets.
Police arrived at the nursing student’s Houston apartment on April 26 to do a welfare check. After noticing blood on the back patio, they went inside the apartment and discovered Grant, 40, with at least one stab wound and Odunsi, 23, with many wounds. Odunsi was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to KHOU11, the roommates got into an argument about the cats they kept in the apartment a few days before the stabbing, which allegedly led Grant to stab Odunsi.
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Investigators said that Grant attempted to kill himself by stabbing himself six times, including once in the neck, after he had stabbed Odunsi. According to officials, he had just been living with Odunsi for about two months when the incident occurred.
Grant was admitted to the hospital in critical condition before being booked into jail and charged with murder on May 3. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Monday, May 5.
Odunsi, who is originally from the United Kingdom, used her TikTok account @tamidollars to capture her experiences as a British student studying in the United States. Her study tips and other school-related posts earned her more than 30,000 followers.
Odunsi used TikTok to count down the days until her college graduation in the weeks before she passed away. One of the videos featured her graduation gown and cap.
Five days before she passed away, she shared her excitement about the milestone in her final video, in which she danced and included the following text: “23 years old,” “BSN grad in 2 weeks,” “Vacations booked,” “Summer is 14 days away,” “Starting to look human again.”
“I’m readyyyyyyyyyyyyy,” Odunsi wrote in the caption.
A GoFundMe was established after Odunsi’s passing in order to collect funds for burial costs and the return of her body to her family in the United Kingdom. As of May 5, the campaign has raised over $72,000, surpassing its initial target.
The fundraiser states that Odunsi, who was described as “a beautiful soul, full of light, ambition and kindness,” came to the U.S. in order to “pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, dedicating herself to a life of care and service.”
According to the page, her passing is “an unimaginable loss at a moment that should have marked the beginning of a bright and promising future.”
Netizens have also voiced their sorrow and disappointment at her passing; some have even posted condolence messages for her family on her social media accounts.
One wrote, “After learning so hard to complete school and someone stabbed you few weeks to your grad? Real Horror , I don’t know you but this hurts me so much .RIP TD I’m sorry for your demise”
Another wrote, “It gets more emotional when you go through her page.”
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