According to prosecutors, Keshia Golden fatally stabbed her child’s father during an argument at her Austin apartment hours after her baby shower last week.
Golden, who is eight months pregnant, was ordered held in jail on Friday in lieu of $2 million bail, with her next appearance before a judge scheduled for less than two weeks before her due date, according to her court-appointed attorney.
Prosecutors said during the bail hearing that the Oct. 22 stabbing was not the first time an argument between Golden and her boyfriend, Calvin Sidney, had turned violent. Police were called to Golden’s home five times between June and September to respond to domestic violence incidents. Sidney allegedly choked, punched, slapped, or pushed the pregnant woman four times.
According to court records and police reports, Golden obtained an order of protection against Sidney in July, alleging that he punched her in the face. Prosecutors said Sidney declined to press charges in August after Golden cut his neck badly enough to send him to the hospital.
“It was just toxic with those two,” Golden’s mother, Tarsha Ellis, explained. “But they were in love. They wouldn’t have a case if he could raise his hand right now because he would never want charges brought against her.”
Golden, Sidney, and other relatives returned to her apartment in the 5100 block of West Augusta after spending the evening at the baby shower with friends and family. According to prosecutors, around 3 a.m. Sunday, Golden, 33, and Sidney, 29, argued over who would get to use the microwave to reheat leftovers. They claimed Golden snatched a plate from Sidney’s grasp and that Sidney “pushed her down on the counter.”
Sidney was separated from Golden by Sidney’s uncle, and Sidney went to a bedroom. According to prosecutors, Golden pushed past the uncle and went into the room, stabbed Sidney in the leg, then dropped the knife and left the apartment.
Sidney died at Mount Sinai Hospital after suffering a femoral artery wound.
Golden’s mother, who has spoken with her daughter from behind bars, said her daughter was devastated by Sidney’s death.
“She didn’t mean to kill anyone,” Ellis explained. “She’s in tears over it. She had no idea stabbing someone in the leg could kill them. She just wanted him to leave because he was misbehaving and she was afraid he would hurt the baby. And he refused to leave.”
Golden returned to her apartment hours later, unaware that Sidney had died, and was arrested by officers on the scene. Prosecutors claim Golden admitted to police that she stabbed Sidney.
Golden spent four days in the hospital receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the fight with Sidney, according to her lawyer, Julie Koehler, deputy chief of the Cook County public defender’s murder task force.
Holding Golden, a cashier at a Marshalls store, on $2 million bail – which would require her to post a $200,000 bond to secure her release – is equivalent to issuing a no-bond order, according to Koehler. She stated that prosecutors requested that Golden be held without bail, despite a state law passed in 2019 mandating that pregnant women not be imprisoned prior to trial unless she is deemed a threat to the public.
“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 callous decision violates Illinois law. All of the evidence points to Keshia acting in self-defense. The only person she’s ever acted violently toward was the man who was beating her.”
The state’s attorney’s office in Cook County declined to comment.
Golden is being held at Cermak Hospital, which is located within the Cook County Jail complex, according to Matt Walberg, a spokesman for Sheriff Thomas Dart.
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