In the fall of 2015, Keandra "Kiki" Atkins, a 31-year-old Black / African American woman, was navigating through some difficult times in her life. On Sunday, November 22, 2015, her life came to a tragic end in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her body was discovered at approximately 4:30 p.m. in an open area between two buildings at the SkyPointe Landing Apartment Homes, located in the 5900 block of Sky Pointe Drive.
A witness reported seeing Atkins sitting on the ground before police found her face down.
Initially, the circumstances surrounding her death were deemed "suspicious" by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. A trail of blood was found near a black SUV parked in the complex, and investigators were working to determine if it was connected to her death. Compounding the initial uncertainty, a weapon was not recovered at the scene.
Despite the initial questions and the suspicious elements of the case, the Clark County coroner's office officially ruled Keandra Atkins' death a suicide, attributing it to a gunshot wound to the chest. This ruling left her friends with a sense of disbelief and a lack of closure. A close friend, Justina Dickison, who had known Atkins since their days at Chaparral High School, expressed her shock, stating that it just didn't make sense. She recounted that while Atkins had faced struggles in the weeks leading up to her death, she had never exhibited signs of depression or spoken of suicide. To her friends, "Kiki" was the one who would lift others up when they were going through hard times.
Following the coroner's determination, there were no reports of any arrests or the identification of any suspects in connection with Keandra Atkins' death, as the case was not pursued as a homicide. The official cause of death remains a suicide, leaving a lingering sense of tragedy and unanswered questions for those who knew and loved her.
