NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A mother seeking justice for her murdered daughter wants to be there as the trial unfolds. So, far she said her wishes have fallen on deaf ears.
Norfolk rapper Dyamond Hamilton was shot and killed in Las Vegas. Hamilton’s roommate goes on trial for her murder next month.
Dyamond’s mom, Monique Hamilton, said she’s been calling the district attorney’s office in Las Vegas for months and hasn’t heard back. Now she’s about a month out from the trial and she said she doesn’t feel like they care.
“I’ve left messages, over 100,” Monique Hamilton said. “I used to call twice a week, then I went down to once a week, now I call once a month and I still get no reply.”
Monique Hamilton’s life was forever changed on March 2, 2023. That’s when she got a call that her daughter, Dyamond, was shot and killed in her Las Vegas apartment. Since then, she’s been awaiting the day that she can go to court and get justice for her daughter, but she’s unsure when that day is coming.
“It’s hurtful and I feel like they don’t care because they haven’t reached out at all,” Monique Hamilton said. “I know nothing except for what is public record.”
The case is scheduled to go to trial on June 24, according to the Clark County Nevada Court website. But Monique Hamilton is concerned because her phone calls to the district attorney’s office have gone unanswered.
“I feel like no one cares,” she said. “I feel like Vegas doesn’t care, I feel like they just said another Black girl dead, that’s how I feel.”
Dyamond, who was better known as “90 Splitz,” was an aspiring rapper from Hampton Roads who moved out to Las Vegas to pursue her music career in 2021. The night of the shooting, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said Dyamond and her roommate, Virgil Mack, were fighting in their apartment over Mack moving out.
Mack originally told police Dyamond pointed a gun at him, but police said the self defense claims didn’t match up with the evidence in the case.
A witness visiting Dyamond that night was in the apartment when it all unfolded, and they told Monique Hamilton that they haven’t heard from the DA’s office either and they need to make travel arrangements as well.
“I don’t want to go out there and spend my money and then it’s going to be continued,” said Monique Hamilton. “No one from the district attorney’s office has ever called me, ever, not one time.”
She’s hoping someone calls her, so she can be there in person to read her victim impact statement, and fight for her daughter.
“It’s because I’m so far away,” she said, “and I’m not there and I’m not going to be able to be at every single thing that they have, so I want to fight because I think she deserves it. I think anybody in this predicament deserves it.”
Monique Hamilton said her second Mother’s Day this past weekend without Dyamond was especially tough.
“She was just so ambitious and courageous,” Monique Hamilton said. “I mean, just driving to Vegas by herself was amazing because I know I couldn’t have did it. I just miss her, all of us do.”
10 On Your Side reached out to the Clark County district attorney’s office as well and are still waiting on a response from the DA in charge of her case Richard Scow.
There is a status hearing scheduled for next Tuesday, May 21. As of now, her trial is scheduled for June 24.