On the eve of Keshia Golden’s trial for fatally stabbing her child’s father, prosecutors are expected to offer a new plea deal for significantly reduced charges and no time behind bars.
Golden, now 37, says she was acting in self-defense when she stabbed Calvin Sidney at their baby shower almost four years ago.
Since then, Golden’s lawyers and advocates have been urging the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to drop all charges. Prosecutors previously offered Golden a chance to plead guilty to lesser charges of second-degree murder in exchange for two years of probation, but her lawyers said the conviction would follow her for life.
Now, with trial set to begin Monday, prosecutors are expected to present a new deal — plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and get two years of probation, according to sources familiar with the case. Unlike second-degree murder, an involuntary manslaughter conviction wouldn’t require Golden to register as a violent offender, sources said. Golden’s will formally be offered the deal during a hearing Monday before Judge Steven Watkins, according to the public defenders office.
Golden and Sidney had just finished hosting a shower for their first child on Oct. 22, 2022, when he slammed her into a kitchen counter and a fridge, according to her lawyers. Golden was eight months pregnant at the time. A relative tried to separate the pair, but Sidney wouldn’t relent, her lawyers said. Golden grabbed a knife and stabbed Sidney’s leg, striking his femoral artery. He later died at Mount Sinai Hospital, officials said.
“After the stab, I just ran out of the house,” Golden previously told the Sun-Times. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just wanted him to stop, basically. I didn’t know that it hit an artery.”
A Cook County judge initially set Golden’s bond at $2 million. Julie Koehler, deputy chief of the public defender’s homicide task force, rallied anti-domestic violence and community organizations to raise awareness and the money needed to get Golden out of jail. A week later, a different Cook County judge reduced her bail to $50,000, requiring her to pay $5,000 to get out. Once she was released, she was able to give birth and raise her now 3-year-old daughter, Ky’liyah.
For almost four years, Golden has checked in daily with pretrial services and attended all her hearings, the public defenders office said.
Last month, a jury found Vanessa Sanders not guilty of all charges in a similar case. Sanders was also a pregnant mother charged with murder for allegedly stabbing an abusive partner.