Cadence Eileen Prince

Cadence Eileen Prince, a high school junior, dreamed of one day working with animals or becoming a beautician. She was a happy teen, her father said, “ready to take on the real world.” But Cadence’s family is reeling after the 17-year-old O’Fallon girl was stabbed to death at a trailhead over the weekend. “She was very smart, very logical, very real,” her father, Jon Prince, said in an interview. “She was very kind.” The St. Clair County State’s Attorney charged Cadence’s boyfriend, Julian G. Holloway, with murder in the fatal stabbing. Holloway is 18. Cadence died of multiple stab wounds after being attacked at the Goshen Trailhead parking lot on Kyle Road, near Holloway’s home. He lived with his grandparents, who raised him. After the killing, police quickly took Holloway into custody, assuring the community it was “not a random incident” and that Cadence knew her killer. But officers wouldn’t elaborate about their connection until Tuesday. The Domestic Violence Unit in the office of the St. Clair County State’s Attorney reviewed the case before charges were filed. Holloway lives in the 300 block of Vermillion Drive, a few blocks from the trailhead. He used a knife to kill Cadence, charging documents said. She died at a hospital just before 10 p.m. Sunday, said St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. Prince said his daughter and her boyfriend had dated for about a year. They took a break a few months ago but were recently back together, said Prince, who once met Holloway. Prince lives in Redlands, California, and saw his daughter twice a year. “He seems totally normal,” Prince said of Holloway. “He bought me and the girls food, took us out to an arcade. We all had fun playing games. “He wasn’t being possessive or trying to take up too much time,” Prince added. “He was very respectful.” Prince said his daughter was into music and art and loved animals She is survived by an 11-year-old sister and her mother, Victoria Dimmitt, of O’Fallon. They moved to Illinois from California 2½ years ago. Cadence lived on Fairwood Hills Road in O’Fallon with her mother, stepfather and sister. Cadence was a junior at O’Fallon Township High School. The school superintendent, Beth Shackelford, said counselors and social workers were available for students. “This news is devastating to our school community,” the superintendent said in a message to parents and students. Dimmitt said her daughter had recently confided that, during the monthslong breakup with Holloway, he had been controlling at times and manipulative. Dimmitt thinks it started after Holloway crashed his car and lost his job. Cadence got a job and her license, and that made Holloway "so jealous, and he started harassing her at school," Dimmitt said. Despite the concerns, Dimmitt said the couple reunited, and Dimmitt was under the impression Holloway was going to counseling. Holloway came to celebrate Dimmitt's birthday with the family and also shared Thanksgiving with them. "He was very much a part of our family," Dimmitt said. "I didn't think he was capable of something so malicious and terrible." O’Fallon police want to talk with anyone who was at the trailhead parking lot on Kyle Road between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sunday. The Goshen Trail connects five trails and two counties. Kirk Brueggeman, director of O'Fallon Public Safety, declined to talk about a motive but said Cadence’s death “serves as a sobering reminder of the often-hidden dangers of teen dating violence and domestic abuse.” Brueggeman urged families, schools and community leaders to have “open and ongoing conversations about healthy relationships, warning signs of abuse and available support systems.” “Terrible, terrible situation,” Brueggeman said in an interview. “Lives are ruined.”