Danishka Sibaja Mejia was killed last April, one day after reporting to police she had been raped
Latawyne Osborne, the man she accused, confessed to killing her the next day
“He tried to silence her but he made her louder,” Mejia’s father said
Danishka Sibaja Mejia always had the courage to do what was right.
That’s one of the lasting memories of the 22-year-old dancer and volleyball player originally from Costa Rica, who was killed in April 2024 during a targeted home invasion in Knoxville, Tenn., by a former friend one day after she accused him of raping her in her sleep.
“One of the things Danishka mentioned during our last dinner on the night of April 4 was that she was not afraid to do the right thing,” Mejia’s mother Melba Mejia said during a recent court hearing, according to The Charlotte Observer. “She wanted to follow up with this report so that [her attacker, Latawyne Osborne] will not hurt any other women. Although it cost her life, she’s going to have her final wish.”
Osborne, 40, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole last week on convictions of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated sexual battery, according to the Observer, WATE and WVLT.
“This spares all the parties of extended litigation of trial and sentencing and appeals,” Osborne’s defense attorney Cullen Wojcik said after his client pleaded guilty, according to the Observer. “And we hope that this resolution brings a certain level of finality to the whole process.”
Mejia was killed on April 5, 2024, just one day after she had reportedly gone to police to formally accused Osborne of raping her after she fell asleep at his home. According to the Observer, Mejia told police she woke up partially clothed and with her tampon inexplicably removed. Osborne denied sexually assaulting Mejia when she confronted him about it, according to the outlet, but prosecutors said an examination at a local hospital later showed DNA evidence that Osborne had raped her.
According to local WBIR, Osborne and two other men barged into a home in South Knoxville where Mejia was, forcing her and two others – a man and the man’s pregnant girlfriend – down into the basement. There, Osborne forced Mejia at gunpoint to ingest a mix of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, according to WBIR, and made her repeat the ingestions until she fell unconscious. Osborne then continued to force drugs on her and repeatedly checked to see if she was breathing, filming portions of the incident, according to WBIR.
The Observer and WBIR report, citing police, that Osborne and two cohorts then fatally shot Mejia. Mejia’s friends were also shot but survived the attempts on their life, alerting police to what happened when officers arrived at the home.
Osborne was also reportedly shot on accident by one of his co-conspirators during the home invasion, later going to a local hospital for treatment where he was then taken into custody after being questioned by homicide detectives. He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty on May 30, according to WBIR.
“He tried to silence her but he made her louder,” Mejia’s father Tom Dolias told reporters after Osborne’s sentencing, according to the outlet. “This is step one, it’s a big victory.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.