A high school senior who recently moved to Georgia was stabbed to death by his mother, an Army veteran who suffered from mental Health, According to authorities and family.
According to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Khalil Malique Wigfall, 17, was found stabbed outside his family’s apartment complex in Hiram, Georgia, on the afternoon of March 2. Hiram is a tiny city northwest of Atlanta.
His mother, Daniele Latrice McDowell, 39, assaulted authorities and refused to halt or drop the knife, police claimed. Officers attempted to tase her but failed.
According to investigators, McDowell once stabbed herself with the knife.
Police reported that one cop fired multiple shots. McDowell died hours later in a local hospital.
Wigfall, who grew up in Syracuse and Georgia, had attended Henninger High School in Syracuse as recently as 2024, according to his grandmother, Cathy Keenan. She just relocated to Georgia after serving as the pastor of God’s Temple of Faith Ministries in Syracuse for several years.
His father, Steven Wigfall Jr., and many other family members remain in Syracuse.
Wigfall’s grandma recalled him as a teen with an “infectious smile” who enjoyed motorcycle riding, swimming, video games, and basketball.
He was looking forward to graduating from high school and celebrating his 18th birthday with his grandmother, she said.
According to Keenan, Wigfall and his mother have always been close. He adored her, but he would go to his aunt’s house when his mother was having a mental health crisis. His grandmother, however, claimed that he always returned to his mother.
Keenan stated that she has known McDowell, her daughter-in-law, since she was 17. McDowell admitted that she had struggled with her mental health for years.
Keenan recalls her daughter-in-law calling one evening and telling her that “the Illuminati was trying to kill Khalil.”
“She would have periods where she was struggling a little bit more,” Keenan informed me. “When she came over on Thanksgiving, I could see it.”
Keenan claimed McDowell was being treated for PTSD at the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to her relatives.
Keenan stated that she was seeking treatment at the VA and had recently begun taking medication.
Her family says she recently received a 100% disability rating from the VA. That means McDowell qualified as fully disabled and earned compensation based on that classification.
Her family claimed she would discuss how awful her experience in the Army was and how she heard bombs go off in the desert.
Keenan stated that she wants people to know that McDowell suffered with her mental health as a veteran in the hopes that they will seek treatment when they need it. She believes, “Something good has to come from this.”
Wigfall’s burial ceremonies will take place in Syracuse soon, according to his grandma. They are waiting for the investigation to be completed before transporting his remains back to Syracuse.
The family is preparing plans for the funeral, which they hope will be held at People’s Ame Zion Church. Hundreds are expected to attend.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.