Lincoln University senior killed in stabbing off campus, girlfriend charged with murder

Prosecutors allege Kevaughn Goldson was involved in a volatile relationship with Denitia Jackson leading up to the deadly fight.  

After a Missouri college student and track athlete was stabbed to death, his girlfriend has been arrested and charged in connection with the killing.

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, officials at Lincoln University in Jefferson City announced in a press release that 23-year-old senior Kevaughn Goldson had been killed in an off-campus incident the day prior.

“Our thoughts are with family, friends, faculty, staff, and all who have been impacted by this tragic situation,” university officials said in the statement.

In the early morning hours of Monday, Feb. 23, Jefferson City police responded to a call at a residence near campus, where they found Goldson suffering from stab wounds to his back and chest, KRCG reported. He later died at a local hospital.

Cole County prosecutors have since charged 27-year-old Denita Jackson, also a track and field athlete at the university and Goldson’s girlfriend at the time, with second-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to ABC 17.

Goldson, who was from Kingston, Jamaica, was a senior and a member of the university’s men’s track and field team. Jackson, a native of Berbice, Guyana, was also a senior and competed on the women’s track and field team. According to charging documents, the two had been in a “volatile” romantic relationship with a history of domestic violence.

On the day of the stabbing, Jackson told authorities that Goldson had spent the previous night in her room and was still there when she left for work the next morning, People magazine reported. The two had argued previously over a bottle of cologne that Jackson had promised to replace. Jackson said she began feeling ill at work and returned home early, only to find Goldson no longer in her room.

She reported hearing voices coming from her roommate’s closed bedroom door and, after using a hair clip to force the lock, found Goldson in bed — fully clothed — with her roommate.

According to court documents, obtained by the outlets, an argument between the couple escalated into a physical altercation after Jackson grabbed Goldson by the shirt collar. The roommate allegedly told them to stop before fleeing the room.

Investigators allege that during the struggle, Goldson ended up on top of Jackson and was choking her when she reached under the roommate’s bed for a knife and stabbed him in the back. When that did not stop him, she allegedly stabbed him again in the chest.

Jackson then called the police. She was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action and is being held without bond, according to court records.

No court hearings have been scheduled as of yet.