The death of 17-year-old LaShonda Childs of Dayton, Ohio, has been "devastating" for her mother, and her family hopes that other women will avoid a similar fate.
"It's very devastating," Nina Childs, LaShonda's mother, said. "It's something that will be devastating for the rest of my life."
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On Tuesday, LaShonda was taken to Grandview Medical Center after being shot. She died early Wednesday morning from a gunshot wound to the head.
LaShonda’s ex-boyfriend, 28-year-old Trendell Goodwin, was arrested Tuesday evening and charged with felonious assault.
Goodwin and LaShonda started dating last September, according to Nina. Shortly after, LaShonda realized Goodwin was not 20, as he initially told her, and Goodwin started showing concerning behavior.
Around January and February, Goodwin bit LaShonda hard enough to draw blood, according to Nina.
She said Goodwin would also steal LaShonda’s phones and harass LaShonda and her family.
“He was the type of guy who would call you 70 times a day,” Nina said. “Nonstop. It was aggravating as well as annoying and scary.”
Even after they broke up, Goodwin continued to reach out to LaShonda.
“She was really in the process of leaving,” said her brother, Jaylon Childs.
LaShonda filed for a protection order, but Nina said it was never served because Goodwin kept avoiding it.
Nina also said that her daughter eventually confided in her about how Goodwin treated her.
“LaShonda told me, ‘You know mom he made me walk from our house to his house with a gun pointed at my back. I was scared for my life as well as my family’s life,’” Nina said.
Nina said she first knew something was wrong Tuesday when police knocked on her door and asked if everything was alright.
“I said, ‘Well as far as I know. Why are you here?’” Nina said.
Police told her that LaShonda had been in an altercation, but didn’t say that she was shot or mention Goodwin.
Nina began calling LaShonda, but couldn’t get an answer.
“I’m still not thinking that my child was shot,” she said.
Shortly after, detectives arrived and asked Nina if she knew what happened between LaShonda and Goodwin.
“I told them there was a protection order in place,” Nina said. “The basic reason was that she did not want to date him. He had posted lots of things on Facebook that he would kill her.”
At that point, detectives told Nina that her daughter had been shot and took her to Grandview Medical Center.
When they arrived, Nina said she had to take a moment before seeing LaShonda.
“I couldn’t see my child like that,” she said. “I just couldn’t do it at that moment.”
Nina called Jaylon and told him what had happened to his sister.
“I was at Walmart shopping,” he said. “I left the cart where it was, dropped everything and headed straight to the hospital.”
When Nina went back to see LaShonda, she said she knew her daughter was dead.
“It was very obvious,” she said. “Looking at her I knew she had already died.”
“It was hard,” Jaylon said. “I’d seen her in the hospital before, but nothing like that.”
Around 1:20 a.m., Nina received a call from Grandview and was told LaShonda had died.
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Both Nina and Jaylon said they hope Goodwin spends the rest of his life in prison with no chance at parole.
“Whatever happens to him, I can’t get my sister back,” Jaylon said. “As long as justice is served, there may be some peace.”
He also hopes that other women don’t go through the same thing his sister did.
“I just want to tell all the young girls, all the females, families, friends, if you see the signs, don’t ignore them,” Jaylon said. “Do what you got to do. Use the resources. There’s too many out here not to.”
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