‘Justice was never on the table.’

Daisy walked home alone in the cold in February 2023, noticing a mark on her neck where her assailant had choked her until her vision darkened. She texted her friends as she remembered the empty look in his eyes, then how he had continued to slap her even after she told him “no.” She listened to Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa” on repeat, unable to change the song. Later, he would tell her the song reminded him of her, a remark she found chilling.

She had just wanted to return a T-shirt. He convinced her to stay and played the saxophone for her, she told the IDS later. The sex was consensual at first, she said, but then he became aggressive.

Daisy reported her assailant, Solomon Keim, to IU in January 2024. Since then, she has been caught in a flurry of documents and meetings from the Title IX process, fighting to ensure the man who hurt her never hurts another woman again. But the hardest part is the quiet moments, a feeling she describes as being submerged face-down in a bathtub.

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Two days after the assault, Daisy confronted Keim.

During the confrontation, Keim apologized for his “aggressive” behavior and said consent was important to him, according to text messages. In subsequent conversations, Daisy said Keim would portray himself as a victim. She began to sympathize with him, feeling that if she stuck by him, maybe he would get better. Then her pain would be worth something, she thought.

“He had this narrative that he created where he was like this broken little baby bird and he just needed somebody to hold his hand until his wings would get better and he could fly on his own,” she said. “It was never framed like he was a predator, it was always framed like he was sick.”

Ultimately, Daisy broke it off with Keim in October 2023. She reported the assault to IU and the Bloomington Police Department in January 2024. Among the evidence she shared was a recording of her final phone call with Keim from Jan. 14, where he did not deny assaulting her and admitted to sexually assaulting multiple people.

A few weeks later, BPD got back to her. In an email to the student, a police detective wrote that Keim had admitted to physically assaulting her but that there was not enough evidence to pursue a rape charge.

The detective wrote that he and the prosecutor’s office believed her.

“However, because you continued to have a relationship for several months after that incident, and that it was a sexual relationship, and that there was at least one additional incident when choking occurred during sex; they will not be filing criminal charges against Keim at this time,” the email read.

Ultimately, the incident was a case of “he said, she said,” the detective wrote.

While relationships can add a new layer of complexity to processing, reporting and prosecuting sexual assault, it’s more common than what is often expected. The concept of sexual assault as something perpetrated by a stranger in a dark alley is a myth, experts told the IDS. Instead, 73% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows, while 28% of those are committed by an intimate partner.

When sexual violence does occur within a relationship, it can be deeply upsetting because it’s also a betrayal of trust, Peterson said.

“Even after a bad experience, your feelings of love and affection don't automatically disappear,” she said.

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Months after she reported her assault to IU, Daisy attended the final hearing Aug. 2. During it, panelists would rule on the alleged perpetrator’s conduct and if they felt it was more likely than not that he committed sexual misconduct, would determine a punishment. Unable to bear hearing Keim defend himself, Daisy muted the Zoom meeting during most of his testimony and waited for it to end.

While the panel deliberated in the weeks after, Keim was in Florida for a benefit concert to fund Pasco County Education Foundation’s Solomon Keim Musical Excellence Scholarship for graduating seniors. A Tampa Bay-based news outlet previewing the concert called Keim a “jazz wunderkind.”

Then finally, on Aug. 22, Daisy got the notification. IU had found Keim responsible for dating violence, sexual assault with force and sexual harassment. The punishment was expulsion.

Keim later filed an appeal, but it was denied in September.

For months, Daisy had anticipated a wash of relief once the investigation concluded. Though the panel had found Keim responsible, she felt no closer to healing than she had before. She still feared she would see him again, imagining he would somehow find her and hurt her.

“Justice was never on the table,” she said.

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