KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Police responded Saturday evening to the call of shots fired at Emerald Park Apartments off of Cork Street in Kalamazoo.
They arrived to find 28-year-old Taylor Dragicevich having been stabbed multiple times in a scene police referred to as 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 in a statement on Monday. "On arrival, officers encountered Taylor Anne Dragicevich who was mortally wounded not by gunfire, but instead by a vicious knife attack."
"Officers and LIFE paramedics rendered aid and transported Ms. Dragicevich to an area hospital where she succumbed to her injuries a short time later," the statement read.
Those who knew her reflected Monday on 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 says the greenhouse took precautions for Dragicevich’s safety after she filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend in March.
Court documents obtained by 13 On Your Side show Dragicevich fearing for her life in one incident just days before she requested the order, in which she said the boyfriend was holding a razor blade and she feared he would harm her with it.
As of Monday afternoon, police had made no connection between the ex-boyfriend and Dragicevich’s death.
However, Regina Rapier who worked under Dragicevich at Wenke Greenhouses and became close with her, believes 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," Rapier said.
In a press release Monday afternoon, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said they did execute a search warrant following Dragicevich’s death at a home in Lawton and did take a person of interest into custody. However, they did not release the identity of that individual.
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."
Through the anger and pain, the workers hope Dragicevich’s community will remember her for her compassion and optimism and will continue to admire her for the person she was.
"I hope that they remember her — I know that we're going to remember her for her beautiful smile and the presence that she had," Rapier said. "That's how we're going to remember her. She's going to be missed. She is missed."
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