Teen model shot dead by fugitive ex-boyfriend while she chatted to friends on FaceTime: cops
A teenage Florida model and beautician was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend while she was chatting to friends on FaceTime — while he was already being hunted for threatening her at gunpoint the day before, according to cops.
Kelvi Latrice McCray, 18, was shot in the head, neck and back last Wednesday by Keisean Woodrow Shaw, 19, who then shot himself in the head, police told the Palm Beach Post. Shaw was charged with first-degree murder but died the next day.
McCray had been eating dinner and FaceTiming three friends — one of whom called 911 after seeing the horror unfold, the outlet said.
Responding officers discovered both still alive in the Palm Beach home they shared despite having split.
The FaceTime witness identified Shaw as the shooter, according to an affidavit cited by WPBF.
McCray had ended their relationship of over a year in January, but Shaw continued to live with her because he had nowhere else to stay, the Palm Beach Post reported.
A day before the murder-suicide, McCray reportedly called police to report that Shaw had threatened her at gunpoint, choked her and held her against her will.
A warrant was issued against Shaw on charges including aggravated assault with a firearm and domestic battery by strangulation, the Sun-Sentinel reported. A countywide alert had been issued for Shaw.
“We had him at Gaines Park, he then fled, took off, led us on a chase for almost five miles. We had to terminate that chase because it was just unsafe. He was on our radar,” police spokesman Mike Jachles told CBS 12.
“It’s just heartbreaking an 18-year-old was killed as a result of domestic violence,” he added.
McCray’s uncle Ricky Aiken remembered the young woman, who had a large following on Instagram and described herself as a model and beautician.
“I wrote in my journal last night that the tragedy isn’t that she died, we all must go — the way Kelvi went,” he told WPTV. “The tragedy is probably how she died and how old she was when she died.
“Kelvi was a go-getter, she had an entrepreneurial spirit about her, she was as beautiful as she was smart,” the uncle added. “I never would have thought this would happen.”
Police said Shaw was upset over the breakup.
“I believe the prevailing message through this experience is that we should be highlighting the need to protect our girls through making sure they know what to do if they find themselves in a situation like this,” Aiken told the outlet.
The grieving uncle said there is strength to be gained amid the tragedy.
“I see the message in that, because if that young man wanted to do anything, it was to bring a sense of devastation,” Aiken told WPTV. “I think allowing it to not devastate us speaks volumes to who Kelvi was as a person.
“We will continue to honor her with our life, with our intentions and with the work I do through my organization Inner City Innovators,” he added. “Kelvi has left a legacy and there’s not much more you could ask for a life well lived.”
