Heavily Pregnant Woman Stabs Boyfriend To Death Hours After Baby Shower Over Food

A pregnant Illinois woman fatally stabbed her boyfriend during an argument over food just hours after they celebrated their unborn kid's baby shower.

Keshia Golden, 33, got into an argument with her boyfriend, Calvin Sidney, 29, at the former's Austin, Chicago, apartment at around 3 a.m. on Oct. 22, local newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The two, who had just spent the evening at their expected child's baby shower with family and friends, were fighting over who would use the microwave to heat leftovers, according to prosecutors.

Sidney's uncle separated the couple at the time, but Golden allegedly pushed past him and stabbed Sidney in the leg. She then dropped the knife used in the attack and left the apartment.

The stabbing resulted in Sidney suffering a wound to his femoral artery, and he later died at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Golden returned to her apartment hours after the incident, unaware of her boyfriend's death.

She admitted to the fatal stabbing and was charged with first-degree murder.

Golden, a cashier at a Marshalls store, spent four days at a hospital to receive treatment for injuries she sustained during the struggle at her apartment, her lawyer, Julie Koehler, said.

Sidney's death left Golden distraught, the latter's mother, Tarsha Ellis, claimed.

"She didn't mean to kill anyone. She's broke up about it. She didn't know you could kill someone by stabbing them in the leg. She just wanted him to leave because he was acting out, and she was worried about hurting the baby. And he wouldn't go," Ellis said.

Before the fatal stabbing, Golden had been the victim of repeated domestic violence, police and court records showed.

Police were called to Golden's home five times between June and September to respond to domestic violence incidents.

Sidney reportedly choked, punched, slapped or pushed Golden four times out of those five incidents.

Golden took out an order or protection against Sidney in July because she claimed her boyfriend punched her in the face, according to court records.

In the next month, Sidney declined to press charges after Golden cut his neck badly enough to send him to the hospital, prosecutors claimed.

"It was just toxic with those two. But they loved each other. If he could raise up right now, they wouldn't have no case because he would never want charges against her," Ellis said.

Golden, now eight months into her pregnancy, was held in jail in lieu of $2 million bail during a hearing Friday. She was scheduled to appear before a judge less than two weeks before her due date.

Prosecutors asked Golden to be held without bail despite a state law adopted in 2019 mandating pregnant women not be jailed ahead of trial unless she is deemed to pose a threat to the public, according to Koehler, who is the deputy chief of the Cook County public defender's murder task force.

"To not only force Keshia to give birth in jail but then to immediately take her child away after birth is cruel to the mother and the baby," Koehler said.

"This heartless decision is contrary to Illinois law. All the evidence shows Keshia acted in self-defense. The only person she's ever shown any violence toward was the man that was beating her," the lawyer added.

The Cook County State's attorney's office declined to comment.

Golden was held at Cermak Hospital inside the Cook County Jail complex, Matt Walberg, a spokesman for Sheriff Thomas Dart, said.