Shana Chappell, who lost her son LCpl. Kareem Nikoui in the attack during the Afghanistan evacuation last year, announced on Tuesday last week her son Dakota took his own life as the one year anniversary of Nikoui's death approaches.
Nikoui, along with 12 other service members, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device as U.S. troops were trying to bring Afghans into Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26 last year.
"The month of August has been very hard so far with the one year coming up. I look at my kids as strong and like they can handle anything. That was my mistake. My son Dakota has been talking a lot lately about how he just wants to be with Kareem, how much he misses him, etc…. We all feel that way so i didn’t see the signs. This morning my son Dakota went to be with His brother Kareem," Chappell posted on Instagram.
"The ripple effect! I lost two sons in less than one year, both of them in the month of August! My son Dakota was an amazing son. Like all of my kids, he had a heart of Gold. He hit some rough patches in his life and his life wasn’t always easy but he managed to pull through and was slowly getting his life back on track," Chappell said in another post on Instagram. " I was so wrapped up in my own grief that i couldn’t see all the signs that were there! I’m not gonna make this a political post but this is the ripple effect! Now my kids have lost another brother."
Chappell created a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of the new burial. Dakota will be buried next to Nikoui in their hometown of Norco, California.
Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) said Dakota took his own life at a memorial in the family's hometown that is dedicated to Nikoui.
The older brother of one of the 13 KIA in Kabul recently killed himself at his little brother’s memorial. Please pray for his family. There MUST be accountability for this continued carnage. https://t.co/7nPjpoqR4H
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) August 13, 2022