KALAMAZOO, Mich. — About a year and a half after 28-year-old Taylor Dragicevich was attacked and stabbed to death, her ex-boyfriend pleaded guilty to a charge of Second Degree Murder.
On May 20, 2023, Dragicevich was found stabbed multiple times at Emerald Park Apartments in what police called a "vicious" attack.
"On Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 5:51 p.m., Officers from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety responded to a report of shots fired with a female victim in the 2200 block of E Cork Street," the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said after the incident. "On arrival, officers encountered Taylor Anne Dragicevich who was mortally wounded not by gunfire, but instead by a vicious knife attack."
Jeffrey Kucharski, 27, of Lawton, entered his guilty plea in court on Dec. 11, 2024. Friends of Dragicevich said Kucharski is her ex-boyfriend who she had recently separated from.
Those who knew Dragicevich spoke to 13 ON YOUR SIDE in the days after her death about who they saw as a kind and dedicated person.
"When I think of Taylor, the first thing that I think of is a smile that she always had on her face," Wenke Greenhouses President Lisa Ambrosio said. "She would light up the room when she came in just in her interest in people and her positive attitude."
Ambrosio co-owns Wenke Greenhouses, where Dragicevich worked. She said the greenhouse took precautions for Dragicevich’s safety after she filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend in March of 2023.
Court documents obtained by 13 ON YOUR SIDE showed recount an incident in which Dragicevich said Kucharski was holding a razor blade and she feared he would harm her with it. This was just days before she requested the personal protection order.
Regina Rapier, who worked under Dragicevich at Wenke Greenhouses and became close with her, told 13 ON YOUR SIDE that she believed that while Dragicevich was alive, the system failed her.
"She did get a personal protection order for herself, and he violated that," Rapier said. "With the personal protection orders, people, when they violate them, there needs to be tougher consequences."
The workers' devastation, they said, had become infused with anger.
"I was devastated, I am devastated and I'm angry," Rapier said. "I'm angry that this happened to such a beautiful person that had so much going for her. You know, it's just a tragedy."
Kucharski will be sentenced to 60-100 years in prison on Jan. 14, 2025.
