'It kept getting worse, but she was also trying to help a man that was having demons,' mother says.
The mother of a woman killed by her ex-partner is encouraging people in violent relationships to leave.Martasha McKenzie was found dead in a southside apartment complex by police last month . Her ex-boyfriend, Zakar Jeffrey , also died after attacking police with a knife.
Her mother, Angela, says her daughter was known for her kindness and willingness to help others.'She was my best friend,' she said. 'She was a great daughter, a great mother, a great sister, a great granddaughter. She was just all around a great spirit.'
That desire to help led her to keep in contact with Jeffrey, who Angela says had been struggling with mental health since being released from prison. It was that desire to help that made it impossible to walk away.'I would tell my daughter every day, 'Baby, you need to walk away. What if something happened to you? I'm going to have to take care of your kids and all that,'' she said. 'It kept getting worse, but she was also trying to help a man that was having demons.'
That's what she and Martasha's father, David, told Hearst sister station KCCI led her to the flats on 5th apartments, where she and Zakar ultimately lost their lives. They were both 33 years old. Amidst her grief, Angela said she hopes others will use her daughter's story as encouragement to walk away from unhealthy relationships, regardless of whether it's physical or mental abuse.
'If you're constantly bickering, if somebody's trying to hurt somebody, or somebody can't get over what you did to me, or this and that, you need to walk away,' Angela said. 'You'd rather walk away and be alive than walk away like this. And they, and they didn't walk away.'
Des Moines Daughter Mother Martasha Mckenzie Angela Other Domestic Violence Zakar Jeffrey Unhealthy Relationship Desire Help Death David Father 5Th Apartment Ex-Boyfriend Police Last Month Story People Southside Apartment Complex
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