Older Brother Of Slain Riverside County Marine Takes His Own Life

NORCO, CA — The older brother of a Marine killed during the military's withdraw from Afghanistan last year died by suicide during the one-year memorial of his sibling's death.

Marine Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui was among 11 Marines and two other service members killed last Aug. 26 when an Islamic State terrorist detonated explosives that he had carried onto the perimeter of Kabul Airport during the chaotic evacuation of U.S. forces and diplomats.

Nikoui's brother, Dakota Halverson, 28, was found dead on Tuesday at Pikes Peak Park in Norco, near a memorial set up for Nikoui, according to the Riverside County coroner's office.

"Dakota had been expressing some of the things that had been bothering him and one of those things was the loss of his brother Kareem and how he just wanted to be with him again," his mother, Shana Chappell, wrote on Facebook. "He was still having a hard time believing he was actually gone. He'd sneak into the cemetery at night and sleep on Kareem's resting place. He took his life across from a permanent memorial we have here in town for his brother Kareem. I was so wrapped up in my own grief that I couldn't see all the signs that were there!"

Chappell set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Halverson's funeral expenses. As of Sunday afternoon, the page had raised $26,270, more than the initial $20,000 goal.

"Any donations for his burial and services would be greatly appreciated as he wanted to be buried next to his brother Kareem," the GoFundMe page reads. "His family and I want to honor his wishes."

The GoFundMe page can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/service-for-dakota.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 or chat at https://988lifeline.org/chat/