Virginia Beach: DeShayla Harris' Family Files Wrongful Death Suit for $50 Million
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Family of DeShayla Harris files $50 MILLION WRONGFUL DEALTH LAWSUIT. It’s been two years since the murder of DeShayla Harris in Virginia Beach and it appears authorities don’t know anything more than they did on March 26, 2021. Now, DeShayla Harris’ mother, Elisheba Harris, has filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Virginia Beach.
Read the complaint below:
On March 26, 2021, DeShayla Harris, 28 and Donovon Lynch, 25, were killed near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. There was a fight and a melee that resulted in ten people shot that evening. Lynch was shot by Virginia Beach Police Officer Solomon Simmons. Police made three arrests, no one has been charged with DeShayla’s murder.
In March 2022, 13NewsNow reported that Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer “announced plans for the 757 DeShayla Harris Youth Violence Task Force. But at that same meeting, City Council voted 9-2 against replacing a makeshift memorial on 19th Street with a permanent one.”
On the evening of Friday, March 24, 2023, Elisheba Harris held a press conference along with her attorneys at the site of her daughter’s memorial on Pacific Avenue and 19th Streets in Virginia Beach. The deadline for the two year statute of limitations for wrongful death in Virginia was March 26, 2023.
The death of DeShayla Harris has received much less attention than the Donovon Lynch case. Lynch is a cousin of superstar music artist and producer Pharrell Williams, who also founded the Something In the Water musical festival, which will take place in Virginia Beach next month from April 28-30. The festival returns to Virginia Beach after a year in Washington, D.C. as Williams expressed frustration with the city citing “toxic energy” after his cousin’s killing.
Harris’ family is represented by the same attorneys who negotiated a record $3 million settlement 54 days for the Lynch estate: Justin Fairfax, who served as the 41st Lt. Governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022 and attorney Thomas B. Martin.
DeShayla Harris’ death has never been solved. Over two years, Virginia Beach Police have provided few answers according to DeShayla’s mother, Elisheba Harris. “We’re still investigating…” has been a standard response. Elisheba Harris has spent the last two years trying to get information from authorities in Virginia Beach regarding her daughter’s murder with no success. The two year anniversary of Deshayla Harris’ death was March 26, 2023. Journalist Margaret Kavanaugh was one of the last journalists to write on Deshayla Harris on Feb. 22, 2022.
One of the largest outstanding questions is: What type of bullet was found to have killed Harris? What does the specific ballistics report say? What types of bullets do the Virginia Beach Police Department use? Why can’t the survivors of murder victims get answers from authorities on questions regarding the murder of a loved one?
RELATED: Family of Deshayla Harris suing Virginia Beach for $50M (13NewsNow)
RELATED: Mother of Deshayla Harris sues Virginia Beach for $50 million over 2021 Oceanfront killing (VaPilot)
RELATED: Family of Deshayla Harris to sue City of Virginia Beach for $50 million (WTKR)
BACKSTORY. Virginia Beach Police Officer Paul Neudigate said an argument escalated into a physical fight before erupting in gunfire. Police said “numerous people” were wounded.
CNN reported back on March 28, 2021 that, “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.”
But none of the men were charged in the shooting death of Deshayla Harris.
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