HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- In 2023, the murderers of a 15-year-old Richmond girl were convicted, sentenced, and arenow serving lengthy prison sentences.
Tynashia Humphrey's 2022 murder in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood helped police from both Richmond and Henrico cripple a violent homegrown gang.
On Sept. 12, 2022, Tynashia was walking home from a store when she was shot and killed – an innocent teen who was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting.
During the murder investigation, detectives identify and charge five members of a homegrown Henrico-based gang, the 30 Boys.
Prosecutor Katy Groover was able to get convictions - all summing up to over 200 years.
"We got two life terms and plea agreements on the other three," Groover said.
The information gained from Humphrey's homicide case would lead detectives and officers from specialized gang units in both Henrico and Richmond to a door that would help them solve several more violent cases.
"During an execution of search warrants, a gang member fired several rounds at officers who were breaching a door," an officer said.
However, the information did not come easy.
"It's huge. I think a lot of people think gang violence comes from well-known gangs like the Bloods or Crips, but that's not what we see in small cities like ours," Groover said. "We see a lot of homegrown street-level criminal gangs with members between the ages of 14 and 35 and they're the most violent. When they get into these gangs they become extremely loyal and depend on each other for protection and they use that as a threatening mechanism to others who threaten them."
At a recent awards ceremony at Hermitage High School in Henrico, the officers and detectives involved in the takedown received the Silver Star Award - the second highest award given in law enforcement.
CBS 6 will not name the recipients because of their covert status but Groover says the big takeaway is the number of lives saved because the 30 Boys gang has been severely crippled to the point of extinction.
"At this point, we've almost eliminated them," Groover said.
Even with that, RPD Chief Rick Edwards says the work and partnership with area agencies continues - with hopes of less violence and safer streets.
"Crime has no borders and we love working with Henrico and our partners in the region. When we work together, we can move mountains," Edwards said.
And those mountains can be steep sometimes trying to put the investigations to bed while getting information about who's involved, as police try to provide closure for grieving families that are victims of violence.
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