The brother of a Marine killed in Afghanistan last year took his own life at his sibling’s memorial.
20-year-old Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui was one of 13 American troops who died in Kabul, Afghanistan, last year after a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the crowd outside the city’s airport.
Following the botched military withdrawal from the country, Kareem’s older brother, 28-year-old Dakota Halverson from California struggled to come to terms with his sibling’s premature passing.
As his family revealed, the young man couldn’t believe his brother was gone and often expressed how much he missed him.
“Dakota had been expressing some of the things that had been bothering him and one of those things was the loss of his brother Kareem and how he just wanted to be with him again,” the young men’s mother, Shana Chappell, explained.
“He was still having a hard time believing he was actually gone. He’d sneak into the cemetery at night and sleep on Kareem’s resting place.”
On August 9, just weeks before his brother’s first death anniversary, Halverson ended his life near the shrine erected in his brother’s honor.
“He took his life across from a permanent memorial we have here in town for his brother Kareem,” Chappell added.
“I look at my kids as strong and like they can handle anything. That was my mistake. My son Dakota has been talking a lot lately about how he just wants to be with Kareem, how much he misses him, etc.”
The grieving mom continued: “We all feel that way so I didn’t see the signs. This morning my son Dakota went to be with His brother Kareem.”
Our thoughts are with Kareem and Dakota’s family and friends during this challenging time.
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