I Am Black

“aintcha kinda glad? and aintcha kinda gay?”

Julia Martin was brutally stabbed to death by her ex while attempting to return his engagement ring.

In a terribly sad story out of Chicago, yet another young woman lost her life for turning down a man.

The victim at the center of the senseless killing is 27-year-old Julia Martin. According to the Chicago Tribune, Martin and her ex-boyfriend Rodney Harvey broke up six months prior to the fateful incident and had been dating for three years when the relationship ended.

Martin ultimately decided to return the engagement ring. When Harvey arrived at her apartment under the premise of picking up the ring, he reportedly forced his way in and began stabbing her repeatedly. He then jumped to his own death from her apartment building, the Tribune reports. Martin was able to survive the attack long enough to call 9-1-1 and identify the man who stabbed her. She also called multiple friends and her father, who was shocked by the tragic encounter.

“There was no indication he was dangerous,” Julia’s father Derrick Martin said. “I never would’ve thought that in a million years.” Mr. Martin also revealed that while his daughter told him about the breakup with Harvey and her plans to give the ring back, he never knew the specifics of their split. “She never went into that much detail about how bad it was,” he continued. “She was just telling me that they had broke it off and that she was planning on giving the ring back.”

Mr. Martin described his daughter as ambitious, adventurous and into her career. Her death is unfortunately the latest in a series of passings in the family; the grieving father shared that he’s also lost his wife, mother, father and brother in recent years.

In addition to her father, Martin leaves behind 22-year-old sister Jasmin and a young nephew named Cameron.