Residents react to Meadowland murders

On April 4 of this year, 45-year-old Chitprasong Amphavannasouk was stabbed five times and found lying unresponsive in the hallway of one of the buildings at Meadowland Apartments in western Sioux Falls.

He died on the scene.

Two weeks later, 43-year-old Virgil Wayne Hawkwing III was also found with stab wounds two buildings down from the first homicide.

He died on the scene.

Seven months later, Bonita Keeble died in her apartment complex at Meadowlands as well, from multiple gunshot wounds in the early morning of Nov. 4. Her 22-year-old daughter was shot at the same time, with non-life-threatening injuries.

“When is someone going to take responsibility for what’s been going on at this apartment complex?” five-year resident Cheyenne Grosz said the day after Keeble’s death.

She said fellow residents want more “patrolling at night” and more support from management. But property officials and police confirm onsite presence to “address any concerns” that exist.

Sgt. Cole German said during a media briefing on Nov. 7 that the neighborhood “has an increased focus on our end” and that officials have “taken proactive steps to handle these types of incidents occurring there.”

Keeble is the 11th person to die by homicide in 2025 in Sioux Falls.

Meadowlands is part of the Crime-Free Multi-Housing Program

Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum said back in April that the stabbing incidents were “not connected” and that they both occurred between people who knew each other.

The police department’s spokesman, Aaron Benson, said the day after Keeble’s homicide that her incident, too, was an “isolated,” domestic dispute.

But Grosz says residents are still spooked by the sound of gunshots in their neighborhood.

She was in her hallway the night before Keeble died when a neighbor asked if she had heard any “pops.” As they listened, “many” shots followed.

Asked whether those late-night gunshots were related to Keeble’s shooting the next morning, Benson said police were “still investigating.”

Thomas, the property manager at Meadowlands, says the complex has 120 units, with only six vacancies. There are new residents and others who’ve been there for 20 years, he says.

Thomas said he wasn't allowed to use his last name for the story, citing company policy, and regional manager Kristi Miller confirmed he "cannot" use his last name.

School districts for Meadowland are Oscar Howe Elementary, Memorial Middle School and Roosevelt High School.

Meadowlands is run by Costello Property Management, which owns nearly 1,400 apartment units across South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. Nearly 95% of those complexes are involved in federally subsidized, affordable housing programs. As a Costello property, all complexes include onsite management and 24-hour maintenance.

Thomas says there are security cameras at the doorways of all 10 buildings at the complex and 24-hour lighting above two parking lots on the north and south sides.

But some cameras are ripped off, Grosz says, and some are broken. When she asked management if there was more they could do to protect the neighborhood, she claimed she was told, “the cameras are good enough.”

SFPD community resource officer Kyle Johnson says Meadowlands is often patrolled and is also a member of the city’s Crime-Free Multi-Housing Program, a partnership between the SFPD and local property owners to “reduce criminal activity in rental communities.”

He says the prevention process includes management training, security surveys and background requirements for residents. The program offers updated hardware, locks and adequate lighting, and all residents are made aware that their complex is a participant.

“We have a good business relationship with our residents,” says Thomas, who’s managed the property for five years. “And we have a very good relationship with our law enforcement. Part of our job is to interact every day with our residents and help them find a solution if there is a problem.”

But if it’s criminal activity, Thomas says, the residents are told to call the SFPD.

Calls from Meadowland include assault, disorderly conduct, drug use

Grosz lives at Meadowland with her 14-year-old granddaughter. She wants to leave to protect her, she said, but she wants to stay because her granddaughter is finally adjusting to a difficult move from Rapid City and is enjoying school at Roosevelt.

“We stay home a lot, and my door is always locked,” she says.

Grosz installed a personal camera outside her own door, where she has captured “significant drug traffic, even during the day.” Grosz said she submitted footage to Miller but that a solution for improved security has not yet been made.

Miller said she would not confirm whether the footage was received.

“Tenants are not being treated well,” said Indigenous activist Tracii Barse. He hosted a candlelight vigil on Nov. 5 for Keeble and says single mothers often move to Meadowlands to try and “rebuild their life with their children.”

“But they are not being heard when they ask for assistance,” Barse says. “Their safety at the complex is being jeopardized.”

SFPD detective Melinda Mitchell told the Argus Leader last month that more than 1,300 domestic dispute reports are made in Sioux Falls annually. According to the City of Sioux Falls’ Crime Viewer, 12 of those assault reports have been made directly from Meadowlands this year so far.

In other calls to the department this year, Crime Viewer lists that 198 have been made from that neighborhood for disorderly conduct, 17 for drug use, 12 for weapon violations, five for vandalism and five for theft.

“It’s worse than ever before,” said Meadowland resident B.E. Marriaeux. He’s lived there for five years. “This is my baby’s home, this is all she knows. For (this) to keep happening is horrible, especially when it’s people we know.”

Kids who live at Meadowlands need a safe space

One of the stabbings from last spring happened in the same complex where resident Crystal Twiggs lives. She was one of the residents to call the SFPD.

“It’s terrifying being here,” Twiggs says. She has a teenager who lives with her, of whom knows Keeble’s two daughters, Mena and Hialle Keeble, also tenants of Meadowland.

Twiggs says most residents at Meadowland are from the Fort Thompson area, many of whom are grandparents raising their grandchildren or young mothers and their kids.

Grosz claimed that most incidents at Meadowland “happen from people who don’t live here. They come here for drug and alcohol parties.

“But that puts the residents in danger,” she added.

Barse, among others who were there, live-streamed Bonita’s vigil. More than 10,000 people watched, and hundreds shared.

“You all showed up in a beautiful way last night, a strong way, a courageous way, a way of showing who we are,” Brosz said to his social media followers. “I encourage you to speak and be heard.

“To the others, humble yourself and help your people,” he said.

Where are the suspects now in the Meadowlands homicides?

In the fatal stabbings last spring, 35-year-old Jordan Benedict Adams was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and aggravated assault in the death of Amphavannasouk. He remains in the Minnehaha County Jail, pending a jury trial scheduled for January.

In Hawkwing III’s death on April 18, 25-year-old Kaleb Daniel Martin was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. He remains in the Minnehaha County Jail, also pending a jury trial expected in January.

On Nov. 6, 18-year-old Kray Cleveland Bluebird was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree attempted burglary and grand theft in the death of Keeble. He is being held in the Minnehaha County Jail on a $1,000,000 bond