Police records and prior court filings are expected to factor into Keshia Golden’s trial.
CHICAGO, Ill. — Police reports, an order of protection and claims of violence during pregnancy are shaping the defense of Keshia Golden, a Chicago mother charged with murder in the 2022 stabbing death of Calvin Sidney.
Golden’s lawyers say the records show a pattern of abuse before the fatal encounter after a baby shower for the couple’s first child. Cook County prosecutors say Golden unlawfully stabbed Sidney after an argument and after relatives separated the couple. The dispute over what those records mean is now set to go before a jury Aug. 17, with a status hearing scheduled for July 13.
The public record described by Golden’s attorneys begins months before Sidney died. Between June and September 2022, police reports documented five domestic violence calls involving the couple. Four included Golden’s claims that Sidney choked, slapped, pushed or punched her while she was pregnant. In July 2022, Golden sought an order of protection after she said Sidney punched her in the face. Her attorneys say those reports show that Golden was not facing a one-time fight but a dangerous relationship that had already put her and her pregnancy at risk.
Defense attorney Julie Koehler has tied the prior reports directly to the night Sidney was stabbed. Koehler said Golden was eight months pregnant when Sidney attacked her after the baby shower. She said he hit Golden, grabbed her hair, slammed her head onto a kitchen counter and dragged the fight into another room. “We are asking that a woman whose only crime was to fight for her life and the life of her unborn child be dismissed,” Koehler said after prosecutors declined to drop the case. The defense says Golden grabbed a knife in fear during the attack and stabbed Sidney once in the leg.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office has not accepted that account. Prosecutors say the conflict began over who could use the microwave to heat food in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2022. They allege Golden knocked a plate out of Sidney’s hands before he pushed her onto a counter. According to that version, family members separated them, Sidney went into a bedroom, and Golden entered the room armed with a knife. Prosecutors say Sidney was on a bed when Golden stabbed him in the leg. The wound struck his femoral artery, and he later died at Mount Sinai Hospital.
The trial is expected to turn on whether jurors believe the danger to Golden was ongoing when she used the knife. Self-defense claims often depend on timing, threat and reasonableness. Golden’s lawyers will likely argue that Sidney’s alleged attack, her pregnancy, past reports and the couple’s history made the threat immediate. Prosecutors are expected to argue that the separation by family members and Sidney’s move into a bedroom undercut that claim. The femoral artery injury itself is not in dispute. What remains disputed is the legal meaning of the act that caused it.
The records are not one-sided. Prosecutors have noted that Sidney accused Golden in a prior incident of cutting him in the neck badly enough that he was hospitalized. He did not press charges. Golden’s defense has argued that the broader record still shows Sidney as the abuser and Golden as the person seeking help. Her lawyers have also said Golden previously miscarried after Sidney physically abused her. Those details could become important if the judge allows jurors to hear them as part of the context for Golden’s fear.
Golden was arrested after Sidney’s death and initially held on a $2 million bond. That amount was later reduced to $50,000 after a judge said a lower bond served the best interest of her unborn child. Golden was required to post $5,000. Community groups that pay bond for people who cannot afford it helped cover the cost, and she was released in early November 2022. A grand jury indicted her later that month on two counts of first-degree murder. Before this case, Golden had no criminal record, according to her lawyers.
Since her release, Golden has given birth to her daughter and remained under pretrial supervision. Koehler said Golden has followed court requirements for nearly three years. “She has done everything over the past three years that they have asked,” Koehler said. “She has done counseling, she has done classes, and she has reported every single day to pre-trial service.” Supporters say those facts weigh against further prosecution. Prosecutors say the pending murder case must continue through the courts.
The state offered Golden a way to end the case without more jail time, but not without a conviction. Prosecutors offered a plea to second-degree murder with two years of probation and no additional time served. Golden rejected it. Her lawyers said a felony conviction would still follow her, including possible registration as a violent offender and limits on employment and benefits. The state’s attorney’s office said in a statement that Golden rejected the offer and that the office could not comment further while litigation remains pending.
The case has brought advocates for survivors of domestic violence to Golden’s side. At a downtown Chicago rally, supporters held signs calling for her freedom and stood outside court as her lawyers pressed for dismissal. Sierra Bartlett of the Cook County Public Defender’s Office said the case sends a warning to women in abusive relationships. Bartlett said Golden had already shown she was trying to comply with the court and rebuild her life with her child. Dyanna Winchester of the Women’s Justice Institute said the system failed to respond earlier to cries for help.
Cook County Judge Steven Watkins set the Aug. 17 trial date after prosecutors did not dismiss the charges. The July 13 status hearing is the next scheduled step before the case reaches a jury.
Author note: Last updated May 5, 2026.