The voices of Shaniqua Kinnard, her older sister Tenecia and other relatives serenading each other with the lyrics to Keshia Cole’s slow-tempo “Love” bellowed through an Atlanta restaurant.
The karaoke night was one of countless favorite memories of a 2022 trip Tenecia Kinnard had with her sister, who was killed in her Far South Side apartment last week, allegedly by the father of one of her children who had a history of domestic violence.
“One of my most memorable memories was just being able to go out of town with my sister for the first and last time, to just really get to see her being a free spirit and enjoying life,” Tenecia Kinnard told the Sun-Times Thursday.
On the morning of July 11, the 30-year-old mother of six was found by one of her six children in the 13000 block of South Martin Luther King Drive, the same block where she had lived her entire life.
Kinnard was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:48 a.m. that day, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Kinnard suffered trauma to her face, swelling in both eyes and lips, and cuts to the inside of her lips, prosecutors said Wednesday during the first court appearance of the man accused in her murder, Jarve Toms-Dixon, who is the father of her youngest child.
Her death was ruled a homicide due to multiple injuries from an assault, an autopsy by the medical examiner’s office found.
“She wanted so much more, she never had the opportunity to live a good life,” Tenecia Kinnard, 34, said. “She never made it out, she never saw better, she never experienced true love and true happiness.”
One of the last things Shaniqua Kinnard told her older sister was that she wanted to leave Illinois to “put herself in a position to do better in life.”
“She just allowed herself to be who she was regardless of people’s approval or disapproval,” Tenecia Kinnard said. “She didn’t have a lot but she always made a way for her kids.”
She was a great cook and loved music, according to relatives. She often would be chosen to lead solos when their family would attend church.
“She knew how to dance and sing,” Shaniqua Kinnard’s younger brother, Treveyon Kinnard, said. “That’s what she did best.”
Prosecutors detail Kinnard’s final hours
Toms-Dixon, 30, turned himself in two days after the attack and was ordered to remain in custody during a court appearance Wednesday.
“Of course it won’t bring her back, but that’s just another thing that puts our minds at ease,” Treveyon Kinnard, 27, said of the court’s ruling.
Prosecutors said Kinnard and Toms-Dixon, who were in a relationship, did not live together. Kinnard, had five other children ranging in age from 4-14 who lived with her.
On July 10 and early into July 11, the two were hanging out with Kinnard’s neighbor and the neighbor’s boyfriend, according to assistant state’s attorney Mike Pekara.
After a night of drinking, dancing and listening to music, video captured Kinnard and Toms-Dixon returning to her apartment around 3:45 a.m., July 11, Pekara said. It was the last time the mother of six was seen alive on video.
Around 5:10 a.m., Toms-Dixon — who was seen earlier wearing a “distinguishing” jacket with a flower print design — was spotted on video leaving the apartment with the same jacket on, according to Pekara.
Roughly three hours later, Kinnard’s 7-year-old son woke up and found his mother bleeding and lying unresponsive, officials said.
Between the last time Kinnard was seen alive and the time Toms-Dixon left her apartment, her children were the only ones besides Toms-Dixon inside the second-floor home, Pekara said.
There were no signs of forced entry, according to court documents.
Repeated allegations of domestic violence
In court, prosecutors highlighted a string of incidents of alleged domestic violence between Kinnard and Toms-Dixon.
In April 2024, police were called after Toms-Dixon battered Kinnard, who was four months pregnant at the time, as well as her friend, Pekara said.
On June 24, 2024, police were again called to the apartment because Toms-Dixon was allegedly intoxicated and she wanted him removed. Toms-Dixon returned to the home shortly after police removed him and kicked the door before fleeing, prosecutors said.
Later that same day, Kinnard sought an order of protection against Toms-Dixon — who returned to the home again, broke in and damaged several items while leaving behind a gun, officials said.
Officers were called to the home a third time that day when Kinnard allegedly received threatening messages from Toms-Dixon because she gave his gun to the police.
Toms-Dixon threatened that he would “paint the city red” if he didn’t get his gun back, prosecutors alleged.
“There are no combinations of release that can mitigate the risk of such an violent manner of death in a domestic setting, nor would he be likely to comply with conditions of release based on his apparent [violations of order of protection] that occurred after the victim sought” an order or protection last year, Judge Deidre M. Dyer wrote in her order to detain him Wednesday.
Four months later, Toms-Dixon allegedly choked Kinnard during an argument, leaving bruises on her neck and in December of 2024, Toms-Dixon kicked in the door of the apartment and began to shove her as he screamed, “Where’s my baby?”
Family urges others to seek help
Life has been turbulent for Kinnard’s family as they navigate the aftermath of her death.
“I cry in the morning when I wake up, simply because I know my sister will never wake up again,” Tenecia Kinnard said. The family comes “together as often as we can to support each other, but when you go home and when you’re by yourself, it kind of hits you all over again.”
A GoFundMe, launched to help with funeral services and aid for her children, has raised more than $7,200 as of Thursday afternoon.
Relatives of Kinnard urged those enduring domestic abuse to seek assistance.
“Don’t be scared to speak up in a situation like this. … Because the end outcome will be what happened to my sister,” Treveyon Kinnard said.
Domestic abuse is a vicious cycle, the family said.
“The chance that you do have to leave, take the opportunity to do so because one day you might never get that chance again,” Tenecia Kinnard said.
Contributing: Sophie Sherry