On Monday afternoon, Chicago mother Keshia Golden stepped out of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, at 26th and California, surrounded by supporters and her attorneys from the Cook County Public Defender’s Office. She had entered the court with first degree murder charges, after years of proceedings.
Almost four years ago, on October 22, 2022, Golden fatally stabbed her partner Calvin Sidney. Golden maintained that she killed Sidney to defend herself and her then-unborn child. Court records show Sidney had been arrested in July 2022 for domestic battery against Golden; Golden also had a July 2022 order of protection against Sidney that was dismissed in August 2022. Public defenders also claimed Golden called the police on Sidney at least 50 times before the night she fatally stabbed him.
Facing trial on Monday morning, Golden instead took a last-minute deal offered by the Cook County States Attorney’s office, allowing her to plead guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in exchange for two years of probation, community service and drug testing, but no prison time.
Though this allowed Golden to avoid a murder trial and potentially years in prison, the public defender’s office still criticized the state’s attorney’s office for letting the case get this far at all.
“The offer from the State’s Attorney’s office clearly shows that prosecutors never believed they could convince a judge or jury that our client, Keshia Golden, was guilty of first-degree murder.
It is a disgrace that it took almost four years for the prosecution to admit this,” the public defender’s office said in a prepared statement. “Continuing to prosecute Keshia for first-degree murder has caused her and her family unbelievable stress as she was threatened with decades in prison.”
While a far less severe charge than first-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter is a felony.
For all the difficulties the conviction may add to her life, Golden took the plea deal because she said it would let her stay with her young daughter Ky’liyah, who was born shortly after Golden’s initial 2022 release on bond.
“I took this plea because I want to be able to raise my daughter … all she has is me,” Golden said in court.
Golden also apologized in court for any harm she caused to Sidney’s family, which county judge Steven Watkins noted.
But outside the courtroom, Golden’s supporters and public defenders were less conciliatory, arguing the State’s Attorney’s Office had effectively pressured an abused Black woman into accepting a further injustice.
“Congratulations Eileen Burke, you win,” Julie Koehler with the Cook County Public Defender’s Office said Monday, referencing current Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. “You have bullied an innocent mother into taking a plea deal that will haunt her for the rest of her life.”
The case against Golden began while Eileen Burke’s more progressive predecessor, Kim Foxx, was Cook County State’s Attorney. Under Foxx and the more conservative Burke, Golden’s prosecution has raised concerns over how the States Attorney’s office treats domestic violence cases, and how the state may compound the mistreatment of women who fight back against their abusers.
Golden and Sidney had reportedly hosted a baby shower on October 22, hours before the fatal encounter. But after the party, Sidney reportedly attacked Golden—then pregnant.
At some point, Golden grabbed a knife and stabbed Sidney in the leg. Her attorneys said this was an attempt to get him to stop his attack. She fatally struck him in his femoral artery. Prosecutors planned to argue at trial that she stabbed Sidney after the fight had ended, while he was laying on a bed in a separate room, based on witness testimony from a relative of Sidney’s.
Golden was arrested in late October 2022, with her bail initially set at $2 million. The court reduced that amount to $50,000 soon after; community members via the Chicago Community Bond Fund, helped her post bail in early November. Yet she was still formally indicted on first degree murder charges later that month. When Burke took over as state’s attorney in December 2024, she did not drop the case.
Before the trial, community groups like Dare to Struggle and Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration rallied for Golden, maintaining that she did what oppressed or abused people should be able to: fight back.
“[Golden] is alive today because she refused to do what this system, what State’s Attorney Eileen Burke, what the courts, what the police expected her to do,” a Dare to Struggle organizer named Ezi said during a rally in support of Golden in downtown Chicago last week. “Which was to submit to her abuse, die at the hands of her abuser. She fought back. She resisted.”
The groups that rallied in support of Golden also briefly occupied the lobby of the George Dunne Cook County Administration Building in the Loop last Tuesday, August 18, demanding to speak with State’s Attorney Burke. Though Burke did not speak with them, Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration organizer Holly Krig argued their advocacy placed pressure on the state’s attorney’s office.
“When we rallied and organized and chanted inside that office, she was forced to listen to us,” Krig said.
Like Ezi, Koehler and other supporters of Golden, Krig also argued that the state was effectively trying to criminalize a pregnant woman defending herself against an abuser. She denied that Golden’s guilty plea on a manslaughter charge changed that.
“It has nothing to do with innocence,” Krig said. “It has everything to do with the millions that the state has to crush you with.”
The State’s Attorney’s Office itself, however, said it recognized “the complexities of domestic violence and the importance of thoughtfully reviewing the full circumstances surrounding each case.” They also noted that prosecutors offered Golden a plea deal last March, which would’ve had her plead guilty to a second degree murder in exchange for no additional time served. Golden rejected that offer.
“Today’s resolution reflects our commitment to making fair evidence-based decisions that consider the full circumstances of each case and serve the interests of justice,” Burke’s office said in a statement.
The state’s attorney’s office also said that despite the “complexities” of domestic violence, it “is charged with and committed to seeking justice for victims and their families.”
Judge Watkins also noted the gravity of Sidney’s death in his own remarks during court on Monday, even as he agreed to abide by the plea deal in imposing Golden’s sentence. “We have no winners here,” the judge said. “We have a life lost and a child without a father.”
Golden herself lamented Sidney’s death Monday, as well as the fact that she and Sidney’s daughter will grow up without her father.
Before she left, Golden’s mother Tarsha Ellis, whom Golden’s attorneys said she also helps care for, praised her daughter for breaking the cycle of abuse she says she was previously caught in.
“Keshia broke the cycle … I’m very proud of her,” Ellis said.
The mood among Golden’s supporters as they exited the courthouse Monday was also celebratory; public defender Kyan Keenan said they plan to seek a pardon for Golden from Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. In front of the doors to the Leighton criminal courthouse, they stood with raised fists around Golden, who displayed a sign reading “Keshia Golden did nothing wrong.”
“We will stand with Keshia, we will stand with any survivor,” Ezi said.
Dave Byrnes is a Chicago-born independent journalist covering the Trump administration’s anti-immigration campaign. He currently lives in Lincoln Square but is a lifelong White Sox fan.