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Beverly Father Killed by Childhood Friend, Former Marine, Family Says

 Kyle Arrington was slain, allegedly by his former lover.
Kyle Arrington was slain, allegedly by his former lover.
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BEVERLY — A month after Kyle Arrington was shot over an alleged Facebook comment, Arrington’s family was optimistic about his recovery.

Doctors had said the 34-year-old father would be home by June 27. He was responding well to rehabilitation and even posted status updates and prayers on Facebook.

“We fully expected him to come home,” said Arrington’s mother, Marcia Arrington, 63. “He was trying to stay alive, but he was too weak.”

Her son ultimately succumbed to his injuries, and was pronounced dead at 6:20 a.m. June 20 at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

About a month earlier, on May 15, Kyle Arrington was shot multiple times in his Beverly apartment in the 9900 block of South Walden Parkway. Police charged David Twine, a 32-year-old from south suburban Matteson, in the shooting.

According to family and friends, Arrington and Twine were high school buddies.

“We hadn’t seen this boy in a couple of years,” Marcia Arrington said. “He just kind of came out of the woodwork and had some issue with Kyle.”

Twine accused Arrington of posting a negative comment about him on Facebook, family and neighbors said. The two reportedly had an argument about a week before the shooting.

“Kyle was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” said Marcia Arrington, who insists her son never wrote about Twine. But Twine "came back the next week and just started shooting. It was that sporadic.”

Arrington, a longtime teacher who once had Twine as a student, claimed the former Marine had become “paranoid” and “more and more erratic” since leaving the military.

“I’m very sorry that he shot my son, obviously,” she said. “But he was a victim, too, in so many ways.”

Maj. Shawn Haney, a Marine Corps spokeswoman, said Twine served from 2001 to 2006. He was a lance corporal who specialized in airframe mechanics and served in posts as far away as Florida and Washington state.

In 2002, Twine was deployed to Saudi Arabia for “Operation Southern Watch.” He earned several medals, including the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Haney said.

Twine was arrested in late May and charged with aggravated battery with a firearm in Arrington's shooting, police said. He is expected to appear in court Thursday for the first time since Arrington’s death. Charges will likely be upgraded to murder, authorities said.

Family and friends said Kyle Arrington, who recently had gone back to college to study mental health counseling, was “loud,“ “funny” and “full of life.”

“He just kind of filled the room,” said his sister, Stacy Arrington Carter, 38. “He loved the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Bears. He loved Chicago. It’s the city he loved and the city that took him.”

Arrington was opinionated and often posted musings and jokes on Facebook under the name “Kyle Said-It Arrington.”

“There was never any doubt on where he stood on a topic,” longtime friend Jennifer Mayfield, 33, said with a laugh. “He never said ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t think that was in his vocabulary.”

More than anything, relatives said, Arrington was a loyal friend. He'd help with a big move and often insisted that friends with bad home situations stay with him until they got back on their feet.

“A lot of people will bring home stray cats and dogs,” Marcia Arrington said. “He brought home people."

Since Kyle Arrington’s death, family members have set up a fund for his 8-year-old daughter, Sydney, whom they called “daddy’s girl” and “the sweetest child.”

Arrington “was real caring and liked to carry her around a lot,” said Patricia Williams, a longtime family friend whose children grew up with Arrington. “Everybody can’t believe Kyle’s gone. It was just senseless.”