According to investigators, a Florida woman’s ex-boyfriend shot and killed her last week while she was on a FaceTime call with friends.
Kelvi McCray, 18, was shot many times in the head, neck, and back by Keisean Shaw, 19, in the West Palm Beach home they shared, according to authorities. Her murderer is thought to have thereafter committed suicide.
“Her boyfriend came in and shot her; my baby was dead,” McCray’s mother said in one of the 911 calls regarding the shooting.
On the same night, a neighbor called 911 as well.
“And we heard gunfire inside the house. So the son fled, and when I ran to the house, I was unable to enter,” the neighbor informed the dispatcher. “The mother let me in, and, by that time, this girl is—sshe’s on the floor.”
According to a police report that West Palm Beach-based NBC affiliate WPTV obtained, the murder-suicide took place on March 6 around 9:45 p.m. at a residence on 13th Street off North Australian Avenue in the Lake Mangonia neighborhood close to Gaines Park.
“The victim was sitting, eating dinner, and FaceTiming with three friends when Shaw entered and shot her,” West Palm Beach Police spokesperson Mike Jachles said. “One of the three on FaceTime was actually a witness for us that provided that quick identification.”
Police said the shooter was found slumped against a wall in the living room with a single gunshot wound to the head.
When authorities arrived, both the victim and her assailant were still alive and were transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center. McCray died from her wounds later that night. Shaw died the following day.
Before his death, Shaw was charged with first-degree murder.
The killer of the woman was well-known to authorities and wanted in the hours leading up to the double-fatal shooting.
Shaw was wanted on warrants for aggravated assault with a handgun and domestic abuse by strangulation, according to WPEC, a CBS affiliate in West Palm Beach. Shaw pointed his gun at McCray the night before the crime, according to a detective.
“We had him at Gaines Park, but he fled and led us on a chase for nearly five miles,” Jachles told the TV station. “We had to end the chase because it was simply unsafe. “He was on our radar.”
“It’s just heartbreaking that an 18-year-old was killed as a result of domestic violence,” he said.
According to authorities, McCray and Shaw just ended their relationship. The man did not take the end of the relationship well, but he continued to reside in the same house with the young woman “because he had nowhere else to stay,” according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. According to The Palm Beach Post, McCray and Shaw had known each other for five years and had been dating for almost a year before they dissolved their relationship.
McCray was a model, stylist, and influencer. She particularly enjoyed recording event videos and vlogging food. Her Instagram account garnered thousands of followers after her death.
“She was as intelligent as she was beautiful,” said Ricky Aiken, the deceased woman’s uncle, to West Palm Beach ABC affiliate WPBF. “She had a flair for life, a flair that still inspires us today.”
Aiken told WPTV that the woman’s family will not allow Shaw to triumph by destroying them.
“I see the message in that, because if that young man wanted to do anything, it was to bring a sense of devastation,” she said. “I think allowing it to not devastate us speaks volumes to who Kelvi was as a person.”
