“It’s been pure hell. That morning, finding her, and then knowing the boys had been there all night was the worst thing I ever been through,” Shanika’s mother, Tracie Berry, said. “It’s been pretty hard but we’ve been taking it day by day. That’s all we really can do.”
The family plans to spend Monday remembering Bogan and Berry planned on gathering her family over the weekend for a dinner and balloon launch. They said Bogan was a devoted mother and avid cook who loved trying new recipes she found on Facebook.
“The boys were her world,” Berry said. “Anything they wanted, they got. To this day they have so many clothes still with price tags on them. She was an Amazon freak and bought everything for them boys. Shoes, clothes, toys --- anything they wanted, they got it.”
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Berry also said Bogan was a homebody who didn’t bother anyone.
Montgomery County prosecutors said Beasley strangled Bogan on April 29, 2021, while Bogan’s children were inside the home on Uhrig Avenue near Hillcrest and Catalpa in northwest Dayton. Beasley had been released from prison in connection to a different crime 24 days before he killed Bogan, prosecutors said.
Beasley and Bogan met before he went to prison, prosecutors said, and he contacted her after he was released when Bogan was dating someone else.
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
“Upon learning the acquaintanceship was going nowhere, the defendant snuck into the victim’s apartment after a delivery driver exited the front door of the multi-unit building,” the state’s sentencing memorandum said. “There, the defendant would remain in the apartment for several hours with the victim and her two young children. At some point, the victim’s boyfriend attempted to enter the residence but was denied entry by the defendant. The exact time is uncertain, but what is undisputed is that at some point while in the residence, the defendant strangled the victim to death.”
Beasley spoke during a sentencing hearing last month and said that he prays that Bogan’s family will be able to forgive him. He said that he was “foolish” and that he hoped he learns every lesson and consequence. His attorney, Lucas Wilder, said that Beasley deeply regrets his actions and apologies to Bogan’s friends and family.
A sign still stands outside Berry’s house with a picture of Bogan and the words “Justice will be served!!!!” on it. Berry said whether the family got justice is still to be determined. If Beasley serves the rest of his life in prison, she said they will feel that justice was served. But if he is ever paroled, that wouldn’t be.
“She didn’t deserve this,” Berry said.
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