In the wee hours of February 23, 2026, around 1:09 a.m., a desperate 911 call shattered the quiet. It was Denita Atiyah Jackson, 27, confessing she’d stabbed her boyfriend, Kevaughn Goldson, amid a nasty fight at their apartment off Mount Boulevard, not far from Lincoln University an HBCU in Missouri. Cops sped over and found the 23-year-old Goldson in bad shape, with wounds to his back and chest. They airlifted him to University Hospital in Columbia, but he didn’t make it through surgery.
Goldson was a senior sprinter hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, and Jackson, also a senior on the track team, came from Guyana. She stuck around after the incident and got arrested right there. From what court papers say, their relationship was a powder keg. Jackson explained she headed home early from work because she felt off, and when she got there, she heard voices coming from her roommate’s bedroom. She jimmied the lock with a hair clip and walked in on Goldson in bed with the roommate both fully dressed, mind you next to this cologne bottle that had been a sore spot before.
A tweet from X.
All hell broke loose. Jackson grabbed his shirt, he supposedly kicked her into a mirror, then started choking her. She says she reached under the bed for a knife and stabbed him to protect herself. The roommate, who wasn’t hurt, bolted during the mess. Police mentioned there’d been earlier calls about domestic stuff between them.
Now Jackson’s facing second-degree murder and armed criminal action charges. She’s locked up in Cole County Jail with no bond, plus an immigration hold since she’s an international student. Her first court date’s February 28, 2026. Prosecutors are calling it a heat-of-the-moment domestic blowup, not something planned. Of course, these are just charges for now she’s sticking to her self-defense story, and it’ll play out in court.
Lincoln University put out a statement sending prayers to everyone hit by this mess and offering counseling for students. The whole thing blew up on X , with one post getting over 22,000 views. People were chiming in about the risks of cheating, urging folks to walk away and keep things respectful. Reactions varied from straight-up shock to reminders that betrayals don’t have to end in disaster.
It really highlights how jealousy can push young couples over the edge. I remember reading a 2023 study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence that said jealousy played into about 40% of homicides in that age bracket. Tragic stuff. Experts in a Black Enterprise article pointed out how cases like this expose the lack of support for international students dealing with college life in the U.S., especially athletes under all that pressure.
Both were stars in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association sprint scene, and this has rattled the whole track community at Lincoln. Such a sad loss.
