Investigators in Mississippi are still piecing together what led to the tragic shooting death of Ole Miss student Ally Kostial.
Investigators in Mississippi are still piecing together what led to the tragic shooting death of Ole Miss student Ally Kostial.
Brandon Theesfeld, who was casually dating Kostial, has been arrested on suspicion of murder in her death, accused of shooting Kostial multiple times. What prompted her death remains a mystery.
Is Kostial's death another case of a college campus romance turning deadly?
Just last year, University of Utah track star Lauren McCluskey, 21, was fatally shot by her enraged ex-boyfriend, 37-year-old Melvin Rowland, who then took his own life.
Yeardley Love was beaten to death in 2010 by her ex, George Huguely, who attacked her in a drunken rage. They were just days from graduating when he snapped. Huguely famously sobbed as police questioned him about her slaying, repeating, "She's not dead." He was convicted of murder.
Criminologist Casey Jordan said that the atmosphere on campus can be a powder keg as young adults figure out their place in life away from their parents.
"In college, you've given up your sense of privacy. Everyone has social media. That lack of privacy, when you want to break up with somebody, everybody's going to know about it," Jordan said.
She added: "There's tremendous pressure to be a certain way, act a certain way."
Jordan went on to say that people are still learning who they are in their 20s and sometimes struggle. "People are just not clear about what the expectations are for the give and take in dating these days," she said.
She continued: "Very often the spurned lover feels, 'I'm going to take out the person who destroyed me, who hurt me ... that will teach them a lesson.'"
Theesfeld's attorney has said Theesfeld will plead not guilty.
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