'Wasn't his time': Tallahassee man killed in Seminole Grand shooting was a Marine
Brittany Kimm was releasing her hair from its braids while in the bathroom of her three-bedroom Seminole Grand apartment last Friday. It was just after midnight.
Her boyfriend, Malique Richardson, 24, was lying on her bed watching a Japanese anime show on the television.
The pair then heard a knock at the front door. Kimm opened it and saw a Hungry Howie's delivery man holding a pizza bag. He asked for her roommate, but she wasn't home.
The couple eventually returned to Kimm's bedroom, laughing about the mistake. "We should have taken that pizza," Kimm remembered Malique jokingly say.
After a few minutes there was another knock at the door. They assumed it was the pizza delivery man again.
"He opened the door and then all I heard was gunshots," the 23-year-old Kimm said.
What happened: Man killed in overnight shooting inside Seminole Grand apartment
She ran out of her room and saw Malique on the floor. She dragged him into the kitchen and began chest compressions.
"I was trying to talk to the 911 person, but they couldn't understand me," she said. "My roommate came out of her room — she had one friend with her — and they took the phone and talked to them."
As EMS arrived and tended to her critically injured boyfriend, Kimm and her roommate were questioned by police for hours.
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Around 3:40 a.m., police concluded their questioning and Kimm immediately drove toward Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, where Malique's family was awaiting an update on his condition. Before she reached the emergency room, Malique's parents called her to relay what an officer had just told them: their son, and her boyfriend, was dead.
"I should have answered the door or ... we should've gone to his house," she said through tears. "There's just so many things I would change."
Malique is the 13th person to be killed in a rash of gun violence this year in the capital city and county. The Tallahassee Democrat counts at least 75 serious shootings in 2022 with 48 injuries. The shooting was the third this year connected to the Seminole Grand apartment complex and the second to end in a man's death.
Tallahassee police have not arrested anyone in connection with the homicide and no suspects have been identified, said TPD spokesperson Alicia Turner.
"The investigation is ongoing to determine whether or not the victim was the intended target of the shooting," Turner wrote in a text.
'He was pretty much the family clown'
Malique was described by his family as a sarcastic, playful adult — attributes his cousins identified in their earliest memories of him.
"He was pretty much the family clown," said his older cousin Jalen Richardson, 28. "He had his little ways to aggravate everybody real quick, but it was good aggravation, you know? He was always trying to put a smile on everybody's face.
"He would crack lame jokes, like, that was his thing. He would tell dad jokes."
The son of military parents, Malique was born in Leon County in July of 1997. He has two younger sisters and a slew of aunts, uncles and cousins with whom he was very close, especially Jalen, who said their relationship was more akin to one shared by brothers.
Malique attended Sealey Elementary School and graduated from Leon High School. After graduation, he joined the United States Marines and served four years.
Jalen said his cousin never saw combat and would glow with enthusiasm whenever he would talk about his time abroad.
Malique was particularly fond of his 20th birthday, which he celebrated while stationed in Japan, where the legal drinking age is 20.
When he returned home, Malique rekindled his love of video games, particularly "Call of Duty," a game he and his cousins devoted an untold number of hours throughout middle and high school.
"That's our thing," Jalen said. "Wherever we live, we got to play 'Call of Duty' or 2K (a basketball game) or something."
When he made his permanent return to Leon County, Malique changed jobs every couple of months. Within the last year, he worked at Fun Station, a local amusement center and arcade, and, most recently, the CMX Cinemas Fallschase movie theater, just off Mahan Drive, where he was a cook.
"I was just shocked to hear about it ... literally the night before I spoke with him and we were talking and laughing as usual," said Malachi Jackson, a manager at CMX.
"It was a very surreal moment because I didn't really believe that that could happen to someone as nice and as kind as him."
An upcoming surprise birthday trip to Adventure Island and skydiving
Malique's 25th birthday was quickly approaching and, without his knowledge, his parents, uncles and cousins planned a surprise weekend getaway to Tampa beginning July 29.
The itinerary included a day at Adventure Island, an amusement park, and would climax with skydiving the following morning.
"He always wanted to go skydiving, so my uncle set everything up for him to go," Jalen said.
The same cousin recalled teasing Malique on the Fourth of July by asking what he was doing for his birthday, and even offering some fake scenarios.
"I was like, 'Maybe we should go here,' or 'We should do this.' He didn't know I had those days off already," Jalen laughed. "He was like, 'I really want you to go,' and I was like 'I'll try, but there ain't no guarantee.'"
Less than 72 hours after Malique's death, his father canceled the reservations.
"That shook the whole family," Jalen said. "Nobody expected, you know, he would go this way.
"Malique don't bother nobody, he stays to himself," he continued. "If he's not around family members, he's with his girlfriend or he's playing a game."
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History of a young and monumental relationship
Brittany Kimm moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University in the fall of 2020 after transferring from Broward Community College.
A few months after the semester began, she sought a campus therapist as she was struggling with the separation and isolation that comes with moving away from home.
In November, she met Malique on Instagram and the two quickly began dating.
"The first day we met, he asked me to be his girlfriend," she said, adding that Malique introduced her to his family soon after their first date.
After the new year, she stopped seeing her therapist because her "life was going way better" considering her collegiate career and her budding relationship.
On Valentine's Day, Malique brought her to Fun Station, where he was working at the time, and they rode Go Karts before he presented her with candy and a bouquet of flowers.
"We had both never had valentines before," she said before pausing to clear her throat. "It was a really fun night."
She has not stepped foot in her apartment since Leon County EMS workers asked her to "wait outside" on Friday.
"I'm not going back there," she said. "I've been buying clothes ... and I'm gonna have somebody move my things out of there eventually."
'It wasn't his time'
Around 1:30 a.m. Friday, Jalen got a call from his aunt, Malique's mother.
Before he could say "Hello," she said, "Malique's been shot ... we're going to TMH."
He met the rest of his family at TMH's emergency department. They were put into what Jalen called "a family room."
After about an hour, a TPD officer walked in. The whole family turned toward the officer passing through the doorway silently.
"He was like 'It's not easy for me to tell you this,' and from right there I knew he was going to tell me my cousin was gone,'" Jalen said. "It's been heartache ever since ... I cant stop thinking about my little cousin.
"It wasn't his time."
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Former Florida Marine killed in Seminole Grand shooting
