Karrie Chapman last heard from her 15-year-old daughter around noon last Monday, when Kayleigh Delfino said she was headed to a friend's house. By that afternoon, Chapman was standing outside an apartment complex surrounded by police cars, waiting for someone to tell her what happened to her child.
Delfino was stabbed and killed at the Chase Arbor apartments, according to WTKR, which first reported Chapman's account of searching for her daughter. When Chapman tried reaching Delfino around 2 p.m. and got no response, she tracked her daughter's phone to the apartment complex, where she found a large police presence already gathered. An officer at the scene confirmed that Delfino was dead, the station reports.
Virginia Beach police have said Delfino was stabbed and killed at the complex, though a separate WAVY report referred to the location as the Chase Arbor Apartments while a search-result snippet from the same outlet listed it as Chase Harbor Apartments, a discrepancy that has not been resolved. A 17-year-old was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder and stabbing in the commission of a felony, per WAVY's reporting. That outlet said the investigation remains ongoing.
A Mother's Search Turns Into Unimaginable Loss
Chapman has described her daughter as creative, loving and compassionate — a girl who grew up loving sunflowers and dolphins while always looking for ways to help others, the station's report states. Delfino had a passion for art and created original character designs, one of which a friend later had made into a doll, according to the same account. Chapman called her daughter her “babybear,” the outlet notes.
Delfino also loved animals, nature and spending time outdoors, and she used to fish with her father at a pond across the street from their home, per the WTKR report. Those small, ordinary memories are now what Chapman and her family are left holding onto as they try to make sense of a week that upended their lives.
Family Grapples With Unanswered Questions
The Virginian-Pilot reported that the fatal stabbing occurred on Nov. 2, and that police did not release the identity of either teen involved or information about their relationship. Chapman has said her family struggled to understand how someone they believed was their daughter's friend could be responsible for her death, the station's report notes, though the exact nature of any relationship between Delfino and the 17-year-old has not been independently confirmed by police.
Chapman said the family still does not have answers for why Delfino died, according to the same account. The 17-year-old was expected to appear in court later that week, the station reported, though the outcome of any hearing has not been confirmed. Community support has helped the family get through the difficult days since, per the outlet's reporting.
