Kriti Mehrotra
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Suspicious Minds’ is an incredibly emotional and in-depth series, wherein a murder mystery is chronicled as a psychological thriller as doubt over who the perpetrator could be clouds the perceptions of the victim’s family, the community, as well as the law enforcement officials. Its latest episode, ‘Chi Town Gossip,’ is no different. Telling the tale of the Yolanda Holmes’ slaying, this episode highlights how investigators got past all the neighboring gossip to uncover the shocking murder-for-hire plot of a mother and a successful business owner. Now, we bet, that like us, you’re craving to know all the details of this horrific case, right? So, let’s find out.
How Did Yolanda Holmes Die?
On Labor Day weekend in 2012, Yolanda Holmes, a 45-year-old mother of one and the owner of Knappy Headz beauty salon at 4141 N. Broadway, Chicago, lost her life. Now, to state that Uptowners were shocked to learn about her gruesome killing would be an understatement. Remembered as a vivacious and generous woman by anyone who knew her, most people said that her family, particularly her then-22-year-old son, Qaw’mane Wilson, was her entire life. Because of all that she had done for him – bought him a Camaro, helped him land a job, and legally aided him when he was arrested for possession a BB gun – he had even gotten her name tattooed on his right shoulder.
On September 2, though, everything changed. Yolanda Holmes was sleeping with her boyfriend in her Wilson Yard apartment in the 1000 block of West Montrose Avenue, when her son called at around 4:46 a.m. to say that he was headed over. Then, her boyfriend was awakened when he heard a gunshot go off. He saw an intruder and got into a struggle with him, in an attempt to stop him from getting away. The attacker escaped after he pistol-whipped the boyfriend with the revolver. Yolanda’s boyfriend dialed the emergency services, but it was already too late. She had been murdered in her sleep, shot once in the right temple, and stabbed repeatedly, which her autopsy confirmed.
Who Killed Yolanda Holmes?
With no known enemies, no problems with anyone, and no motive that the investigators could immediately pinpoint, Yolanda Holmes’ murder became quite the sensation in Chicago. For more than a year, all the investigators had were the brief description of the suspect that Yolanda’s boyfriend provided and the theories which the community themselves came up with. But none of that led them anywhere. It was only when Yolanda’s son’s behavior changed that they began to suspect that it could be an inside job for financial gain.
After that, they started looking into him and noticed that he gained all the money from her two separate life insurance policies as Yolanda’s sole beneficiary. They also found that Qaw’mane Wilson had liquidated his mother’s bank account, containing more than $90,000, within a week after her passing. Qaw’mane, aka Young QC, a local actor, dancer, and rapper, posted videos online that showed him throwing hundred dollar bills to his adoring fans in parking lots, “giving back” to the neighborhood, and flaunting his overall newfound wealth on more than one occasion. He even filmed himself buying designer clothes and adding upgrades to the Camaro that his mother had bought him.
All this is what made the police suspect him in the first place. After looking deeper into him and his phone records, the authorities discovered that Qaw’mane had called two people “before, during, and after” Yolanda’s murder. They were Eugene Spencer and Loriana Johnson. Therefore, in December of 2013, all three of them were arrested within days and hours of each other for questioning. And, all the suspicions were confirmed when Yolanda’s then-boyfriend picked Eugene out from a lineup.
Eugene Spencer confessed that Qaw’mane had hired him to kill Yolanda Holmes so that he could gain quick access to her money. In lengthy detail, he told investigators about the stabbing, the shooting, and the scuffle with her boyfriend. Then, he implicated Loriana Johnson to be the getaway driver. Loriana told them that she had driven Eugene to and fro from that area, but she knew nothing about the murder.
She added that all she was told was that Eugene would be committing a robbery. In the end, Loriana was found guilty of armed robbery and was sentenced to 14 years, with time served, in 2015. Eugene Spencer and Qaw’mane Wilson, on the other hand, were each convicted of first-degree murder, home invasion, and attempted murder, in connection with the death of Yolanda Holmes.
Read More: Where Is Qawmane Wilson Now?
