Keahn Hill

3 dead after NW Indiana domestic crime spree and fatal crash

 

Three killed in stabbing, police chase, crash
nbcchicago.com

October 21, 2008 
Portage, Indiana—A 2-year-old boy is among three killed in a series of events in Northwest Indiana early Tuesday.

A woman’s ex-boyfriend stabbed her male friend to death, then crashed a vehicle into a squad car, killing himself and his 2-year-old son, police said.

The incident began unfolding early Tuesday when police were dispatched to an apartment in Portage, Ind., where a 29-year-old man, indentified as Dennis Williams, had apparently been stabbed to death by his roommate’s ex-boyfriend.

Sonya Hill, 21, who lived in the home told police that Williams was her friend and that while she and the victim were inside the apartment, they heard the door buzzer ringing. When they went to investigate, her ex-boyfriend came barging through the sliding glass patio doors.

Hill told police that she and her ex-boyfriend, Lawrence Hill, began arguing about their 2-year-old son, Keahn Hill, who was inside the apartment sleeping, and the ex-boyfriend held a knife to her throat while leading her out of the apartment. At that point, Williams tried to intervene and was stabbed to death by the ex-boyfriend, police said in the release.

Lawrence Hill then fled the scene of the murder and Sonya Hill later discovered that he had taken their son with him. She notified police and a broadcast was dispatched to local police departments regarding the murder and kidnapping.

At about 1:30 a.m., a police officer from Beverly Shores, Ind., spotted the wanted vehicle eastbound on U.S. Rt. 12 in Beverly Shores. The officer began to chase the vehicle, which headed towards Rt. 20 and continued westbound. Stop Sticks, used by police in setting up roadblocks, were placed on Rt. 20 in Porter, but the suspect drove through them.

Keahn Hill was on his father's lap as he approached a second set of Stop Sticks. This time the suspect accelerated and slammed his vehicle head-on into a police vehicle stopped at the location. The sheriff’s deputy was not in his vehicle at the time and was not injured, but the Lawrence and Keahn Hill were both dead at the scene, according to the release.

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Candy Priano's comment: A beautiful baby, Keahn Hill, was killed. Keahn's father and mother were not married. The father, with the baby sitting on his lap, intentionally slammed the car he was driving into an unoccupied police car after officers deployed stop sticks to set up a road block. The father had just killed the boyfriend of the child's mother and, from his own actions, apparently intended to kill himself and his son. He succeeded. As the executive director of PursuitSAFETY, I do not see blame on the part of the police as some bloggers have stated. However, this scenario is one reason why I don't support chases for domestic violence (and yes, I know the father killed the mother's boyfriend). This tragedy became a no-win situation for the mother, boyfriend, Keahn, and the police.