RICHMOND, Va. -- A Suntrust Bank security guard was killed in her Southside Richmond apartment last Wednesday morning.
Richmond Police received a call early on Sept. 28 to come to Nutmeg Court on the city's southside for a woman who had been stabbed inside her own apartment.
"This was a crime of anger and hate. It was so bad, I had to get her cremated," Matesha Burford, the victim's mother, said.
Matesha said the call to police came from her 27-year-old daughter Ty'Keytah Burford's boyfriend Michael Benbow.
"He actually called the police and told them what he had done and waited for them to get there to pick him up," Matesha said.
Benbow is charged with first-degree murder. Matesha said the two were in an on-and-off again relationship since their John Marshall High School graduation 10 years ago.
"She worked for Allied Security Trust for the past four years at Suntrust Bank. She was just a wonderful person. She didn't bother people. She wasn't in the streets. No criminal record. She was just full of life," Matesha said.
She said her daughter's beautiful life was taken by domestic violence.
The grieving mother is left behind, trying to make funeral arrangements and make sense of a relationship that turned deadly.
"I just want to know why. Why did he take a beautiful person away from us? That's really what I want to say to him," Matesha said.
Ty'Keytah's funeral service is planned for Tuesday. Her mother has set up a GoFundMeand is asking for help, saying her daughter didn't have insurance and she's trying to figure things out financially.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
