Deshayla Harris, ‘Bad Girls Club’ star, identified as a Virginia Beach shooting victim
Deshayla Harris, one of the stars of season 17 of “Bad Girls Club” on the Oxygen network, was one of the victims in Friday night’s shootings in Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to a spokesperson for NBCUniversal.
Harris, 28, had been identified by Virginia Beach police as one of two people who was killed in one of three separate shootings. Harris was a bystander at the scene of a shooting in the 300 block of 19th Street, police said.
Another member of “Bad Girls Club” season 17, Key Hamilton, reacted to Harris’ death on Instagram, writing, “thank you for always pushing me and supporting me no matter where we were in our friendship.”
Ten people were injured by gunfire — including two who died — in three separate shootings Friday in Virginia Beach, according to police. Donovon Lynch, 25, was killed by a Virginia Beach police officer in the 300 block of 20th Street — a block away from where Harris died in a separate shooting.
At least four people remained hospitalized Sunday at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital as a result of the shootings, a spokesperson for Sentara Health Plans told CNN. It was possible two of those patients would be discharged later in the afternoon.
The first shooting — unrelated to the two that claimed the lives of Lynch and Harris — appeared to have stemmed from a fight among a group of people on Atlantic Avenue, police said Saturday.
Virginia Beach Police Officer Paul Neudigate said an argument escalated into a physical fight before erupting in gunfire. Police said “numerous people” were wounded.
Three men, identified as 22-year-old Ahmon Adams, 20-year-old Devon Dorsey Jr. and 18-year-old Nyquez Baker, have been arrested in connection with the shooting. Each faces a slew of charges, police said, including seven counts of felonious assault, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and reckless handling of a firearm.
CNN has been unable to determine whether they are represented by attorneys who would comment on their behalf. CNN has reached out to police, the sheriff’s office and the prosecutor’s office for more information.
Neudigate shared photos on Twitter on Sunday that showed police executing search warrants in relation to the incident, thanking the ATF, the Virginia State Police and the Norfolk Police Department for their assistance.
Officer who shot man did not have bodycam on
According to police, officers were responding to the first incident when they heard more gunshots nearby and found Harris shot. She died at the scene, police said.
Meanwhile, a Virginia Beach police officer nearby “encountered an armed citizen which resulted in a police involved shooting.” A man, later identified as Lynch, died at the scene, police said.
“A father’s dream son! Intelligent, handsome, a scholar, an athlete, an entrepreneur, and loved by all he came in contact with,” Lynch’s father, Wayne Lynch, said in a statement to local news station WAVY. “Rest In Peace Don!”
An attorney for Lynch’s family told CNN the family was “in mourning” and described Lynch as a “standup guy.”
The family was not giving interviews, the attorney said, though they may speak to the media in the coming days. But right now, “because of the shock, they just need to exhale,” the attorney said.
The attorney told CNN that police had reached out to the family, but he would not characterize the communication in any way.
The officer who shot Lynch did not have his body camera turned on, Police Chief Neudigate said at a news conference Saturday night. Police have not identified the officer.
“I do not have the answers that the community is looking for in regards to this death right now,” Neudigate said. At the time, he said the officer had not yet been interviewed by investigators.
The chief pushed back on reports Lynch was unarmed, saying a firearm was “recovered in the vicinity of where this incident occurred.”
