SMITHFIELD, Va. — A tragic double homicide in Smithfield remains unsolved one year later, and family members are pleading for answers.
July 17 marked 365 days since a tragic double homicide in the town of Smithfield. It’s the first double homicide in Smithfield Police Department’s recorded history and it remains unsolved.
Smithfield Police took over the scene from Virginia State Police in the early morning hours of the 18th.
Since then, court documents show they’ve filed several search warrants to gain more insight into what led up to the shooting.
“July 17 was a devastating day for residents in the town of Smithfield,” said Smithfield Police Lt. William Wooley.
Kyonne Edwards, 22, and A’shoneya Williams, 21, were gunned down inside their home at the Jersey Park Apartments.
Smithfield Police say that, at this time, they believe one person entered the apartment and fired several shots, hitting Edwards and Williams. They believe the suspect then left on foot and fled the scene.
“The suspect went through Jersey Park Apartments, exited, went across West Main Street, and then went into a residence yard where we lost track of the suspect,” Wooley said.
Cameras on the property weren’t recording that night, so police are hoping someone with information will come forward.
Wooley said they’ve interviewed multiple people, but information has been difficult to come by.
“One of the big differences in this case is that we use the same investigative means for this case as we would for other robberies and other violent crimes,” Wooley said, “but what happened with this case is that some of the information that we would typically get on cases, we didn’t. So those digital search warrants that come back with information, you know, we just didn’t get the leads that we were looking for.”
Smithfield only averages about one homicide a year, and since they started keeping digital records in the early 2000s, this is the only double homicide case they have on file.
“I’ve put a lot of hours into this case,” Wooley said. “I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this case. We have spent days and days and weeks and weeks working on it. I feel for the family, I feel for the community, and I think it would be great to have this case solved.”
Although solving this case won’t bring back the young lives lost, it could bring justice for the victims’ families.
“I hope the families, those that know something, even the killer, will have an opportunity to hear these words,” said Teresinia Lassiter, A’shoneya Williams’ grandmother.
Lassiter saw her granddaughter hours before she was gunned down in Jersey Park Apartments around 11:30 p.m. on July 17 of last year.
She had just dropped her off after spending the weekend together in Fairfax. Lassiter said Williams had taken her stuff inside and came back to get a hug. She said she had no idea it would be her last.
“She came back to the car and we embraced and hugged each other and she walked away, then when she got to the door, she turned around to look at me and she said bye,” Lassiter said, recalling the last time she saw Williams. “And I left. I looked at my watch, and when I pulled out from the parking lot heading back to Fairfax, I said, ‘Oh, it’s 9 p.m., I’ll be back in Fairfax by 1 [a.m.],’ but before I could get home, I got a call from my daughter in law that said A’shoneya is hurt.”
Lassiter said it was the call she wished she’d never received.
“We miss her all the time, all the time,” Lassiter said. “She’s everywhere, and it will always be that way. She impacted our lives because she had a big heart. She would give and give of herself to help somebody else.”
Her granddaughter grew up in Fairfax, but had family in the Hampton Roads area.
She was a gymnast, played volleyball and loved her siblings.
“She was talented from an early age,” Lassiter said. “Oh, and she could sing. And so she sung in church. She was a leader. She encouraged people there. She was anointed to do so.”
Williams lived with her boyfriend, Edwards, who called Smithfield home for most of his life.
“That was my main goal was to bring that piece of paper home as a child,” said Edwards’ mom, Alyssia Crump as she pointed to his diploma. “And who you going to marry is who I want you to bring and she was the first girlfriend I ever met.”
Crump said Edwards played football, was a good friend and was an advocate for the elderly.
“As I worked, my grandmother raised him from 0 to 4 as daycare until he went to school, so he was around a lot of older people, so that was one of his major things, was making sure the elderly was OK in the neighborhood,” Crump said.
Crump said she loved watching him play football, and his coach gave him the nickname “Smart Guy.”
“He always wanted to do plays, he always wanted to be the the one that won, you know. He couldn’t take loser for answer,” Crump said. “He was just always for people, regardless if he was involved or not.”
Crump said she had just talked with him earlier that day, but the phone call notifying her about what happened was difficult to handle.
“Never in a day, I never thought that I will bury my son before I pass,” Crump said. “He’s my only child. He was the helicopter son for his mom. He always wanted to make sure I was OK.”
She says she’s still at a loss as to why.
“What I know of my child, if it was anything that a person wanted, he would have gave it,” Crump said. “But he wasn’t the type of child that would allow someone to take from him.”
She said her son wasn’t a violent child, and she just wants justice to be served.
“I actually forgive the person that done this, you know, I actually forgive them,” Crump said. “I just want justice to be served in order for me to have peace.”
A solved case would bring much needed answers to two grieving families.
“He just had a lot of unfinished business to do,” Crump said, “and his life was just taken way too soon and I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
“We’ll miss her, but she’ll never be forgotten,” Lassiter said, “and when justice comes, we really gonna shout then because it’s coming.”
And detectives pledge not to back down.
“It lets the family know that these cases aren’t just being swept under the rug,” Wooley said. “We will continue to investigate this case until the end of my career if it’s not solved.”
Police said there could be more than one person involved if there was a getaway driver.
Anyone who may know anything that could help can call 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887). There is also a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case.
Last week some funding was given by the commonwealth to help the apartment complex where this happened.
“Oh, my. Look at what they’ve done in Jersey Park since this incident A’shoneya. Your life was not in vain,” Lassiter said. “I’m glad that her living, her dying … her leaving Earth is not in vain. She helped a lot of people.”