A community is grieving after a Louisiana woman was stabbed to death by her boyfriend earlier this month.
Kinnedy Smith died on June 6 after she was stabbed multiple times in her Baton Rouge apartment. The 21-year-old’s body was discovered after Connor Regan, her boyfriend, called the police and informed them of the attack before fleeing.
Regan, 27, was on his way to Texas when he was apprehended by Louisiana State Police. He was treated at a local hospital before he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Regan has a history of abusive behavior, authorities say. In November 2019, Regan was arrested after witnesses saw him choking Smith while they sat in a parked car on the side of a road. He was charged with misdemeanor battery of a partner. Ridge Jackson, one of Smith’s friends, told The Advocate the abuse started two weeks into their relationship. The couple had been together since January 2019.
“Since then, we weekly begged her to leave,” Jackson recalled. “The fact that she stayed with Connor throughout all of the domestic violence speaks of how she chose to see the good in people, while also highlighting the psychological effects of domestic violence.”
Chelsea Rim, another friend, asserted Smith stayed with Regan because she was “beautifully stubborn” and wanted to help him change.
“She wanted to be the person that fixed him, that loved him no matter what,” Rim explained. “She wanted to be his safe harbor.”
Smith, a recent graduate of Louisiana State University, had accepted a job as an intake specialist at Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers. Her loved ones shared fond memories of her with multiple outlets.
“Kinnedy had the type of personality that lingered,” her friend Kaylin Wilson told Reveille, LSU’s student newspaper. “She was special and not like anyone else I’ve ever met. She was so sincere and only saw the best in people. No matter how much you disliked someone, Kinnedy would only see the positive in them.”
“Kinnedy was one of the sweetest, most beautiful souls I ever had the pleasure of knowing,” Marshall Stephenson told KPLC-TV. “Words alone aren’t capable of capturing her inner beauty and how wonderful of a human being she was. I will forever miss her smile and jubilant personality. Kinnedy was the embodiment of kindness, sharing her pure heart with every person she encountered.”
Regan remains in custody on a $200,000 bond, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department. His next court date has not been scheduled as of this writing.
