The Tragic Murder of Eddy Curry’s Infant Daughter and Her Mother
Eddy Curry considers himself one of the most misunderstood players in NBA history.
Once a top-5 pick of the Chicago Bulls, Curry became a laughing stock — had he played in the 2010s, he would have been the focal point of many memes — for his weight, his dreads, and his bad financial decisions.
Curry went through his share of personal demons during his 11 seasons, though. None hit Curry — then with the New York Knicks — more than the tragic murder of his infant daughter and the girl’s mother in 2009.
Eddy Curry played 11 NBA seasons
The fourth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft, Eddy Curry spent his first four years with the Chicago Bulls. Curry averaged 12.9 points and 5.2 rebounds in 289 games (202 starts) with the Bulls.
Curry was averaging a career-high 16.1 points per game in 2004-05 when he had to miss the final weeks of the year with an irregular heartbeat. Chicago traded Curry to the New York Knicks in October 2005 in a package that sent a first-round pick to the Bulls.
Curry struggled in his first year but bounced back in 2006-07 under Isiah Thomas, averaging career-highs in points (19.5) and rebounds (seven).
Those were the last highlights for Eddy Curry in a Knicks uniform. He regressed in 2007-08 and struggled with his weight when Mike D’Antoni took over in the spring of 2008.
The Knicks traded Curry to Minnesota in 2011 as part of the three-team Carmelo Anthony trade, but he never played for the Timberwolves.
Curry saw action in 14 games with the Miami Heat in 2012. His final NBA days came in two games for the Dallas Mavericks in 2013.
Curry’s daughter — and the girl’s mother — were murdered in 2009
Tragedy struck the Curry family midway through the 2008-09 season.
Eddy Curry’s ex-girlfriend, Nova Henry, and their ten-month-old daughter, Ava Curry, were murdered in January 2009. The couple’s 3-year-old son, Noah, escaped unharmed.
Frederick Goings, a Chicago-based attorney, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in February 2013. According to the Chicago Tribune, Curry did not testify in the trial.
Goings received life in prison in April 2013.
Curry had kept the relationship between him and Henry a secret from his wife, Patrice. Curry and Patrice are still married as of August 2020.
Eddy Curry said their deaths changed him forever
The death of his ex-girlfriend and his young daughter had a profound impact on Eddy Curry’s life.
In a first-person story he wrote for The Player’s Tribune earlier this year, Curry recalled learning all of the details. He found out about the murders during a 2009 game between the Knicks and Celtics.
Curry wrote he’d previously dismissed concerns that Frederick Goings was dangerous. He said Nova had warned him that Goings “actually brought a gun to her baby shower for Ava” thinking the Knicks big man would be there.
“I didn’t pay that stuff no mind, though. It was like: I’m in the league. People know my name. No one is running up on me and shooting me. And now I’m hearing that this guy had just murdered Nova and our daughter. They’re gone. Never coming back. Like … gone gone. Forever. Living, breathing human beings just … gone.”
Curry has regularly posted pictures of Ava on his Instagram throughout the years. Ava would have turned 12 this year.
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