“She was such a special person”: Former Professor of Mindi Kassotis reflects ahead of murder trial

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Mindi Mebone Kassotis was killed in late 2022— her body was found in pieces on the grounds of a hunting club in Liberty and McIntosh Counties.

For the years following her brutal murder, questions about who did it, why, and what happened spiraled. But for the first time, WTOC is hearing from someone who knew her, and wanted to share the kind of person she was. This proving that Mindi Mebone Kassotis, was much more than what happened to her.

William Daugherty says he was working as a Political Science Professor at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah. Hey says that Mindi was one of the students who stood out. He describes her as bright and driven.

“She was one of those special students that you wish you could have a whole classroom full of,” said Daugherty, “She was very vibrant, she was just excited about everything! We had a world of friends here.”

The two met later in Mindi’s college career when she had to take one of his intro level classes in order to graduate. He said that in that class he didn’t look at her as much of a young student but more of teacher assistant, often trusting her to assist and even teach some of the smaller lessons.

“We aren’t sure how she ended up in the class but being a senior with freshman she knew much of the material anyways, so she would help out from time to time,” he said.

The two became fast friends, it was Mindi’s way of being able to make everyone around her laugh. “I remember her for her sense of humor… she was just always such a happy person.”

The two stayed in contact even after graduation and through a move for Mindi to Washington, DC where Daugherty says she got a dream job.

It wasn’t until he began to follow a story about uncovered body parts back here in Georgia that he had found out what happened. And through the coverage of her death, he says one thing was always missing.

“There was nothing about her except that she was in pieces, and I thought that’s not right, that doesn’t tell anybody who she was. Or what she was like,” He said.

Through the eyes of a professor, Mindi was a funny, happy, driven, young woman that had ambition to spare. Now, watching a trial on how her light was put out, is hard for anyone who loved her.

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