In the summer of 2016, a promising life was tragically cut short in Monticello, Mississippi. Shaniqua Nicole Dawkins, a 24-year-old Black female from Hattiesburg, was visiting her boyfriend, Denzel C. Nash, also 24, in the early morning hours of July 20th. The visit took a devastating turn in what authorities would later describe as a murder-suicide.
Around 1:00 a.m., inside a residence at the Westover Apartments, Nash used a 9mm semi-automatic handgun to fatally shoot Dawkins.
Shortly after, he turned the weapon on himself. Emergency services were called to the scene at 1:18 a.m., but it was too late for Dawkins, who was pronounced dead at the apartment. Nash was transported to Lawrence County Hospital, where he, too, was pronounced dead.
The investigation by the Monticello Police Department concluded that Nash was the sole perpetrator in Dawkins' death. As the case was classified as a murder-suicide, no arrests were made, and no other suspects were sought. The motive behind the tragic events remains undetermined. The Lawrence County Coroner, Sandra Lambert, confirmed the identities of both Dawkins and Nash. Friends and family remember Shaniqua as a funny, silly, and caring individual who was always smiling.
