Man, 21, charged with killing 15-year-old girlfriend just hours before middle school graduation

A man has been charged with the killing of 15-year-old Ahliana Dickey.

Concerns for Dickey were raised when she failed to turn up to her eighth grade graduation earlier this month at her school in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Her family tried to locate her and went to her home to see if she was there.

Soon after 6pm on June 14, her grandmother called police and said that they had found the teenager and feared that she was dead.

When police arrived, they entered the property to find Dickey in the bathroom with apparent gunshot wounds.

Multiple shell casings were also located at the scene, police said in a press release.

Dickey's death came shortly after one of her neighbors called Lowell Police to inform them of a couple fighting in the street in the early hours of June 14.

The female - now believed to have been Dickey - was heard shouting 'get off me, get away from me, I don’t want to be with you anymore' before gunshots went off.

Ahliana Dickey, 15, was shot dead earlier this month. (Boston 25 News)

The police press release further detailed: "Police responded to the scene but the parties could not be located. Video recovered in the area of the scene allegedly showed a female, later identified as the victim yelling for help shortly before midnight and a male party, allegedly identified as the defendant, leaving the victim’s home shortly after midnight."

It's believed that Dickey had been in an abusive relationship with 21-year-old Trevor Bady, who has since been arrested and charged in relation to her death.

He has been charged with murder, armed home invasion, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, use of a firearm while committing a felony and discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

Bady is currently being being held without bail, PEOPLE reports.

Trevor Bady has been charged and is being held without bail. (Boston 25 News)

Dickey's tragic death came just days after Bady has reportedly threatened to kill her.

At Bady's arraignment earlier this week, the assistant district attorney said, as per NBC10: "On June 12, 2024, Alianah confided in one person that this defendant made statements such as ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill your grandma’ and that he was going to shoot up her house and that he threatened to kidnap her and shoot her."

Not guilty pleas were entered into court on Bady's behalf.

Dickey's grandma has since labelled Bady as a '21-year-old monster'. His next court date has been set for July 30.

UNILAD has contacted Lowell District Court and the Lowell Police Department for comment.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.