As the Campbellsville University wrestling team prepared to leave for Kansas for the national championship, Charles “Zeke” Escalera, a fellow student, discovered the body of a fellow freshman in his dorm room. The murder of Kilman makes four campus murders in the past ten days throughout the nation. When the incident happened, the wrestling team was about to leave for Kansas for the national championship.
According to Kilman’s unnamed wrestling teammates, the first-year student lived with three other people in the dorm room at the college’s South East building. The manner of Kilman’s discovery and his three companions’ whereabouts were left unexplained in the report. According to the Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s Office, Kilman was strangled to death; the Campbellsville Police Department disclosed this information.
Wrestling teammate Charles “Zeke” Escalera, a sophomore, is facing murder and burglary charges. A $2 million bond has him incarcerated at the Taylor County Detention Center. No explanation for Escalera’s heinous act has been made public by the authorities.
In their time of sorrow, college students reached out to the Kilman family, offering comfort and support. According to Trent Creason, the campus pastor, this has been a difficult and blessed week. The Ransdell Chapel can be used by anyone needing a quiet place to worship, including faculty and students.
The tragic loss of Laken Riley on February 22nd has renewed attention to the perils that female runners encounter. Despite the rarity of such assaults, according to crime statistics, they highlight the need for women to exercise extreme caution whenever they venture outdoors, even for a jog around campus. There have been suggestions for ways that women can attempt to exercise safely made by running organizations and women’s forums: Get your phone charged, run during the day or with a friend, don’t run with headphones, keep an earplug or pepper spray on hand, vary your jogging routes, let a friend know where you’re going and then check in with them after you finish.
