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'I'm going to be all right': Kisha Holmes' mysterious murder-suicide

Kisha S. Holmes, a Marine veteran, grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She is pictured here in a family photo from her childhood. She was raised by aunts after going through the state foster care system. (Family Photos)
Kisha S. Holmes, a Marine veteran, grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She is pictured here in a family photo from her childhood. She was raised by aunts after going through the state foster care system. (Family Photos)
By AJC

This story has been updated to correct a misattribution.

On the January day a maintanence worker discovered the lifeless bodies of Marine veteran Kisha Holmes and her three children in a Cobb County apartment, hardly anyone knew that she was actually pregnant with her fourth child — or that she was carrying a devastating personal secret.

Holmes' murder-suicide made national news and her status as an ex-Marine placed her among the rising numbers of U.S. veterans who take their own lives.

The AJC reviewed the available public records about Holmes' case and interviewed a dozen friends, family members and others who knew her. Behind her outward composure and the toughness she learned as a Marine, Holmes concealed deep wells of pain, they said. She could be mercurial, moving around with little notice.

But Holmes was also described as a loving and dutiful mother and an encouraging friend to other veterans. After learning she was HIV-positive, a close friend of Holmes recalls her saying, "I'm going to be all right. Whatever time God has left me on Earth, I'm going to live it to the fullest."