Pregnant woman fatally shot in KC ‘was going to be a great mother,’ family says

Chestina Gaskin was the kind of woman who never met a stranger.

“She treated everyone as if they was an extension of her family,” Gaskin’s sister, De’Airra Switzer, said. “She was just a kind person.”

Gaskin, 23, was fatally shot during an alleged domestic dispute at the Emerson Manor Apartments in Kansas City on June 26. She was six months pregnant at the time of her death, according to a GoFundMe for Gaskin’s funeral expenses.

“Just her being a mother, we just knew she was going to ace that,” Switzer said. “She was going to be a great mother. And she was really excited. That’s all she kinda would talk about and we were happy for her.”

Gaskin, a Kansas City native, previously worked for several local daycares and volunteered at local church programs where she worked with children, Switzer said. Switzer said their extended family knew Gaskin would have been a great mother because she doted on Switzer’s children and her own younger sister.

Travon Oliver, a 22-year-old also from Kansas City, is accused of fatally shooting Gaskin. Police believe the two were previously in a relationship.

“She would want us to forgive [Oliver] and she would want us to progress,” Switzer said. “That’s another thing about her, she did not hold a grudge.”

Oliver was known to Gaskin’s family, and they were shocked to learn he was the suspect in her death.

“Shocked is an understatement,” Switzer said. “We just really wish she would have reached out.”

Switzer alluded to possible abuse in the relationship, and said “a lot of things have come out” about Gaskin and Oliver’s relationship after her death. She said Gaskin “did not like a lot of drama” and thought she was trying to handle the situation on her own.

“And unfortunately, she wasn’t able to keep a lid on it. It just bubbled over, and here we are,” Switzer said.

Gaskin’s death marked the 100th homicide in the Kansas City metro in 2024.

Switzer described her sister as a kind woman who loved gospel music, the colors burgundy and purple, nature and practicing cosmetology. Gaskin had recently graduated from Transformed Barber & Cosmetology Academy, and was excited to pursue her long-time dream of becoming a hairstylist, Switzer said.

When Gaskin was a child, she used to walk around with a mannequin head doll so she could style its hair, Switzer said.

“Even that as a little girl, you know, she [was always] just into beautifying things and loving on things,” Switzer said.

Gaskin dreamed of one day owning her own salon, and possibly her own franchise.

“She always just was like, ‘I want to be bigger than Kansas City and just be known in the hair industry,’” Switzer said. “That was her true passion.”

Switzer said Gaskin’s “passions were her priorities” and she spent “a lot of time perfecting her craft.”

Before attending cosmetology school, Gaskin graduated from Northeast High School, where she received good grades and was loved by staff members, her sister said.

“She kept so many connections with her former teachers and principals and things like that and everyone just loved her,” Switzer said. “I have not really ran across anyone that was like, Chestina was a problem for them or anything like that.”

Switzer described Gaskin as someone who “would go the extra mile” to get along with people.

“And it was just all love with her,” Switzer said. “It was just genuine, genuine love.”

Gaskin’s death has left a hole in her family’s lives, her sister said.

“It’s just such a deep, deep gaping hole and we honestly kind of don’t even know where to go now that she’s gone,” Switzer said. “She was the glue, she was the laughter, she was the joy.”

Gaskins’ funeral will be held Sunday, according to the GoFundMe.

“I know bad things happen to good people all the time, but it’s just like… she was such a joy,” said her sister.

The Star’s Ilana Arougheti contributed to this reporting.