An Ohio man has been arrested for the death of a mother of two who was killed at her home last month.
Kendall D. Beasley was arrested Thursday in connection to the murder of 31-year-old Shanika Bogan in her Dayton apartment while her two children were home. According to the police, Beasley killed Bogan “in the act of committing an offense of violence.” She was pronounced dead on April 30, as reported by PEOPLE.
“It was an intentional killing,” said Dayton Police Lt. Jason Hall. “We still have a lot of work to do on the motive end of that,” he added, noting that authorities are trying to determine a motive. “We are trying to piece together the events that occurred but I don’t have an answer for that right now.”
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After reportedly serving six years in prison for aggravated burglary and intimidating a victim, Beasley was released April 5 from the London Correctional Institution. He had been out for less than a month at the time of the killing.
“It’s unbelievable that it really happened,” Bogan’s mother Tracie Berry told WHIO-TV. “Shanika wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
According to Hall, Bogan and Beasley were acquaintances and had known each other “for a very short period of time,” he said.
“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.”
Bogan’s cause and manner of death have not yet been revealed.
“The investigation is ongoing, so as far as the motive behind this tragic crime, we are still working on that, still fleshing that out,” Hall said. “What I can tell you is unfortunately in this situation that two young children are without their mother.”
Bogan’s children, a 10-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, were in the apartment at the time of her death but didn’t witness the killing, Hall said.
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“She did everything for those boys,” said Berry, who told WHIO-TV that her grandson spoke to the alleged killer.
“He told my oldest grandson, ‘I’m going to give your mama a massage,'” Berry said. “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.”
Beasley is facing murder and felony assault charges in the death of Bogan, according to court records.
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