The city of Duluth, Minnesota, is reeling from the loss of one of its own. Keyshawn Michael Beckom, just 23 years old, died in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 16, after a single-vehicle crash on Highway 2 near Culver Township in southern St. Louis County.
He was a passenger in a Jeep Grand Cherokee that never made it home that night, and his death has left a visible hole in the hearts of people who knew him and even those who did not.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the crash occurred around 3:45 a.m. near milepost 236 on Highway 2. The Jeep, traveling eastbound, drifted into the oncoming lane before gradually sliding into the north ditch and slamming into a power pole with enough force to snap it clean in half.
The vehicle came to rest facing westbound, all four tires still on the ground. Despite that, Keyshawn did not survive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver, 24-year-old Lee Arthur Green, also of Duluth, was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. State Patrol investigators noted that alcohol is suspected as a contributing factor in the crash.
Road conditions at the time were dry, meaning nothing about the environment caused this. The circumstances that led to Keyshawn losing his life that morning were entirely preventable.
That reality is something the community has been sitting with in the days since. Social media posts from friends and strangers alike have poured in, expressing grief and outrage in equal measure. People who knew Keyshawn remember him as someone far too young to be gone.
Twenty-three years old is barely the beginning of a life, and the pain of that is not lost on anyone following this story.
Responding to the scene were the Minnesota State Patrol, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, the Fond du Lac Police Department, the Cloquet Ambulance, St. Louis Fire, and Life Link.
The response was swift, but by the time help arrived, it was already too late for the young passenger sitting in that vehicle.
In a separate development connected to the aftermath of the crash, a 23-year-old woman named Destiny Marie Shepherd was booked into the St. Louis County Jail later that same Saturday morning on a misdemeanor probable cause charge of obstructing legal process and interfering with a peace officer.
Reports indicate she is the mother of a child she shares with the driver, though authorities have not officially confirmed a direct connection between her arrest and the crash investigation itself.
Meanwhile, Lee Arthur Green remains at the center of a case that carries consequences far beyond his physical injuries. Driving under the influence and walking away while your passenger does not is the kind of outcome that changes everything for everyone involved.
The family of Keyshawn Beckom is now left to grieve a son, a brother, a friend, someone who should have had decades ahead of him.
Drunk driving takes lives that were never meant to be taken that way. Keyshawn Michael Beckom deserved to come home. His family deserves answers, and his community deserves justice.
Rest in peace, Keyshawn.
