NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Evonne and Damere Warren were supposed to grow up together, fated by birth to play, learn, and discover the world side-by-side, like siblings do.
But Evonne would never meet her little brother, and Damere would never know his big sister. The siblings were born just one year apart, and died one year apart. Now their father is accused of murdering them both.
A grand jury indicted DuWayne Warren, 26, on three counts of second-degree murder in Norfolk Circuit Court on Wednesday. Warren was previously charged with killing his 3-month-old son Damere and the baby’s mother, 22-year-old Epifani Andrews, on Dec. 29, 2020. Prosecutors brought a third charge of second-degree murder against Warren Wednesday, accusing him of killing his 3-month-old daughter Evonne a year before beating her brother and mother to death in their Norfolk apartment.
10 On Your Side investigators first learned about Evonne’s death in June when reviewing Damere and Andrews’ autopsies. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported that Andrews and Warren had another child who “died of suspicious circumstances” on Dec. 19, 2019, one year before Damere was killed. The Norfolk Police Department confirmed that they were investigating Evonne’s case as an undetermined death.
The OCME determined that Evonne died of “suspected asphyxia,” also known as suffocation. Evonne also suffered from blunt force trauma injuries to her body, which were healing when she died. The OCME did not determine what role those injuries may have played in her death. The OCME ruled her death as “undetermined.”
The OCME determined that Damere died of blunt force trauma injuries and may have been smothered to death. The OCME’s report also found that Damere had extensive bruising and scarring on his body and several rib fractures that were in different stages of healing. A forensic anthropologist determined that the fractures were consistent with abuse over the course of his short life.
The same forensic anthropologist who examined Damere’s body in January 2021 also examined his older sister’s body a year earlier. That forensic anthropologist reported “similar findings” from the examinations of both infants.
Andrews, who birthed and lost both of her children within one year, also suffered a tragic fate, allegedly at Warren’s hands. The OCME reported that the mother was beaten extensively and was cut and stabbed 25 times. She and Damere’s bodies were discovered by police in the living room of their 6th Bay Street apartment after neighbors called 911 and reported a domestic disturbance around 1 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2020.
Before his arrest, Warren issued an apology to Andrews and his family on Facebook. Although he didn’t name Evonne or Damere, he referenced two children in his post:
“My babies I love yall I’m so sorry. I pray God takes care of them … Piff I love you so much n [sic] I’m sorry for not being a better and loving father to our babies, may they RIP. I took everything from you and all I wanted to do is give you the world.”
DuWayne Warren via a Facebook post
“He is a sick individual”, neighbor Misty McCormick told WAVY. She said you could often hear fighting coming from the apartment upstairs. “It seemed rather dangerous,” she said.
McCormick and another neighbor, Sylvia Barksdale, both told WAVY that they were sickened by what happened and would like to see Warren pay with his life. “Because you taking away an innocent life, somebody that didn’t get the say so in what they want to do with their lives,” said Barksdale.
Knowing that the death penalty is no longer an option for punishment in Virginia as of this month McCormick said, “I wish Virginia didn’t do away with it and I’ll take whatever consequences might follow my words right now but anybody that sick, yea, they don’t deserve to live.”
