Sky Raven Mims allegedly killed Dayanbhai Kalidas Chaudhari.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An aspiring model/singer in a small Georgia town has been accused of stabbing a desi store clerk last month, with her legal team saying that they plan to continue defending her unless the prosecution decides to seek the death penalty for the young would-be starlet.
Skyy Raven Mims, a 21 year-old African American woman who originally hails from Detroit, allegedly murdered 37 year-old Dayanbhai Kalidas Chaudhari (otherwise known as Dicky or D.K.) at his convenience store in Dalton, Georgia on March 9. Reports from local news outlets have described sordid details of the crime; Chaudhari was apparently stabbed to death, and had his eyes and mouth taped shut as he died.
Witnesses said that a young woman in a white hooded sweatshirt and large sunglasses, with the hood pulled tight over her face and the glasses so big they obscured everything but her nose and mouth, came into the store and argued with Chaudhari as if she was his wife. This happened at around 11:15 PM on the night of March 9. The same witness also told police that she heard arguing in a back room, behind the counter, in a foreign language a short while afterward. Chaudhari and his “wife,” whoever it was, were apparently arguing about what time he should come back home, with the woman saying he should leave early and Chaudhari refusing.
About an hour later, Chaudhari’s body was found at the store; a customer found Chaudhari and called 911. Details remain vague on exactly how Mims became a suspect, but police were able to find Mims via a stolen Kia Soul that was reported missing in Michigan. Mims had been travelling back and forth between her hometown and Atlanta, located about 90 miles south of Dalton, and allegedly used a stolen car to do her travelling in.
Police tracked Mims down to a house she was hiding in, in Bartow County. Mims reportedly tried to flee when police cornered her, but they were able to subdue her and charge her with murder. She is currently being held without bond at the Whitfield County Jail, and may face capital punishment if convicted.
There are several holes in the case, however, namely that the witness apparently told police she heard male voices arguing in the back room, which would seem to work in Mims’s favor. There also doesn’t seem to have been any motivation for the crime, and Mims’s mother, Ylet Patterson, is imploring police to conduct a thorough investigation instead of just pinning the crime on her daughter. Patterson has also objected to the media’s representation of her daughter as a thug rapper, saying that Mims is nothing like that.
Chaudhari is remembered as a cheery man, with store owner Kanu Chaudhari telling local Channel 2 Action News that he is “lost” as a result of Chaudhari’s death.
“Right now, I’m lost. My mind is lost. I cannot say anything,” said Kanu Chaudhari, who has no relation to the late clerk. “He [was] always happy, smiling [at] customers.”
Mims is being represented by Assistant Public Defender Brandon Sparks, who told The Daily Citizen that he and his team intend to continue defending Mims unless the D.A., Bert Poston, decides to seek the death penalty in the case, and in that scenario he would be forced to withdraw his services.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com