PETERSBURG, Va. — Police have arrested a 21-year-old Dinwiddie County man in connection with the shooting death of a 19-year-old Petersburg woman earlier this month.
Shaakira N. Ross was alone in a car on Fort Rice Street when police found her at about 10 p.m. May 4 after officers were called to the area for a report of a shooting. She was transported to Southside Regional Medical Center where she died.
Officials said Friday that Leon Archer had been charged with firearm violations including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Archer is being held at Riverside Regional Jail.
Detectives are still asking anyone with information about the case to come forward. eeking information on this case. Anonymous tips can be made by calling the Petersburg Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
Remembering the victim
Ross was a 2014 graduate of the Maggie Walker Governor’s School and had dreams of becoming a nurse.
Darleen Bowman, who is the attendance officer at Maggie Walker, said she selected Ross to work in her office as her assistant.
“She would be in that chair eating something laughing talking,” Bowman said about an empty chair in her office that Ross frequently sat in.
While working in Bowman’s office, Ross handed out passes and stopped kids who came in late.
“Some of them think they can just go ahead on, oh the bell, just rang, I’m going make it, and she would be like uh-uhh, you know you’re late,” Bowman said.
Bowman remembers Ross as full of life, and said she could not believe it when she learned the Maggie Walker graduate was killed.
“I was devastated,” Bowman said.
