Henrico woman’s body had trauma not related to fire

Keiona Braxton'sfuneral is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. in the March Funeral Home, 2110 E. Laburnum Ave.

Henrico County search warrants suggest that 26-year-old Keiona Cecilia Tiree Braxton, three months pregnant according to her family, died a horrible death New Year's Eve morning.

While the state medical examiner's office said yesterday that no official determination has been made as to what killed Braxton, documents tied to a search warrant suggest that the woman may have been shot, stabbed and left to perish in an arson fire.

Braxton shared a town house in the 5700 block of Crenshaw Road near the Richmond city border off Chamberlayne Avenue with a boyfriend; he was out of town the morning of Braxton's death, according to her family.

Firefighters summoned to the two-story home Dec. 31about 6:40 a.m. found it filled with smoke; all four burners blazed on the kitchen stove, and the 2001 Thomas Dale High School graduate was unconscious and bleeding, court documents say.

Efforts to revive Braxton were unsuccessful; her body "had obvious signs of trauma not indicative to the fire," according to a search warrant.

In the search warrant, investigators sought evidence of "knives, firearms, ammunition or casings, fibers [and] blood" as well as evidence of "flammable liquids" that may point to arson.

The court documents show that investigators recovered a single cartridge case, oven knobs, knives, wrapped gifts and a quilt, among other household objects.

This morning, Kayla C. Armstrong, 25, is scheduled to appear in Henrico General District Court on a felony charge of burglary linked to an alleged assault on Braxton on Dec. 27. Yesterday in the same court, Armstrong was ordered held without bond on a misdemeanor vandalism warrant.

Those charges stem from allegations by Braxton that Armstrong attacked her and vandalized her car two days after Christmas.

But Armstrong, who lists addresses in South Richmond, was not arrested until after Braxton's death; police describe Armstrong as a person of interest in the arson and homicide investigation, but no charges related to the death had been filed yesterday.

The investigation into the case is continuing, said Henrico police Lt. Doug Perry.

Braxton's family has said in interviews that she and Armstrong had engaged in a long-running dispute centered on Braxton's boyfriend, whom Armstrong had dated.

Braxton, an employee of a local uniform cleaning service, had been living with her boyfriend for the past few years, according to her family.

A funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. in the March Funeral Home, 2110 E. Laburnum Ave. The family will receive visitors tomorrow from 6 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home.
Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or .