Kevin Knotts poses with his sister Kim Simpkins and her son, Domanic White, in May at his father’s home in Pataskala, Ohio.
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Tucked away in the heart of Murfreesboro, Sandee Simpkins quietly prepared dinner Wednesday in the small kitchen of a two-story duplex, as her 9-month-old granddaughter, Bella, tugged at her pants from a baby walker.
“She’s always so happy,” Simpkins said with a smile, as she handed Bella a Nilla Wafer. “She’s the sweetest baby, my little angel.”
As she turned back around to stir pasta, her smile faded and she began to fight back tears.
One person would not be sitting down with the family to eat dinner – her 17-year-old son.
On July 22, Kevin Knotts was shot and killed at the National Car Wash Express on South Rutherford Boulevard.
“A part of me died that day,” she said. “My heart is completely broken.”
Detectives with the Murfreesboro Police Department have released few details since they made an arrest in the case.
Nicholas Wade, 29, was arrested July 29 in connection with Kevin Knotts’ death. He has since been charged with first-degree murder and remains in custody at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center. His case is scheduled to be heard by a grand jury next month.
“I want to know why my son was taken from me,” Simpkins said, before cooking dinner. “He was a good kid. He wasn’t out trying to cause trouble. None of it makes sense.”
Simpkins said they were in the process of moving the day he was killed.
“This was supposed to be a fresh start for us,” she said, as she began crying. “I almost told him no when he asked if he could go because it was getting late. But he had worked so hard that day… He didn’t let us pick up any of the heavy boxes… and he wanted to go, so I let him.”
Kevin Knotts’ girlfriend, Kara Brightman, said she was only a few hundred yards away when he was killed.
“We were only separated for a few minutes,” Brightman said. “I had followed him to Wal-Mart in my car but went to get gas. He had gone over there… When I got back, I found him.”
According to the incident report filed by Officer Tracey Womack, Kevin Knotts was found unresponsive with blood on his neck and upper body just after 8 p.m. He was transported to Middle Tennessee Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
“I want people to know that he wasn’t just some statistic – he was loved and he loved back,” Simpkins said, smiling for a brief moment as she looked at pictures of her son.
“I always told my kids to never put a limit on love,” she said, “and he never did.”
Bella’s mother, Haley Knotts, 20, said her brother was excited about the future. But most importantly, she said, he was devoted to his family.
“He always helped with Bella… My brother could always make her smile, no matter what. She loved him very much,” she said, adding he would often volunteer to babysit when she needed to run errands.
“He had a big heart,” said Terry Johnson, who is Haley Knotts’ boyfriend. “He would do anything for anybody. He always had a smile on his face. If there were any animosity in the room, he would be the first one to cheer everyone up.”
By all accounts, the Ohio native loved music and would listen for hours at a time, often writing lyrics in his room. He had just moved back in March from living with his father for six months in Pataskala, located near Columbus, as part of a joint custody arrangement.
Due to missing too many school days, he had been held back a year in school, Simpkins said. He returned from living with his father determined to catch up to his classmates and had decided to enroll at Holloway High School this fall so that he could still graduate on time.
“Kevin wanted to make something of himself, and he was working on doing just that,” Simpkins said. “He wanted to design video games. He had his whole life ahead of him.”
Only weeks before his death, she said he gave her an admissions packet for Full Sail University, which was recognized in 2010 as having one of the Top 5 game degree programs in the world by Electronic Gaming Weekly.
Although he was a “homebody,” Simpkins said she believes he would have done well attending college in Florida because “he was so smart.”
Since Kevin Knotts’ death, Simpkins said her family has struggled with the reality that he is not coming home.
“I won’t ever be the same,” she said. “There are days I just want to give up, but my precious grandchildren keep me going.”
Aside from coping with her own grief, Haley Knotts said the most difficult aspect has been watching her mother cry every night. But Johnson has been by their side every day and has been a tremendous help, she said.
Even so, she said she tries to lift her mother’s spirits as much as possible.
“I try to make my mom smile every day,” she said. “That’s my job now.”
When Simpkins stood up to begin making dinner, she leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead and said, “you do, you always do.”
“I would do anything for them,” Simpkins said. “We don’t have much of anything but we’ve always been happy. I only need my family, nothing else. That’s what makes me rich.”
Before walking into the kitchen, she blew a kiss at a picture of Kevin Knotts hanging on the living room wall. It was taken just a few hours before he was killed.
“That’s what hurts the most,” she said. “You’re not supposed to bury your child. A part of my family is gone forever.” |
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