RICHMOND, Va. -- At this time last year, 89 people had been shot in Richmond. As of 2:37 p.m. on Tuesday, 100 have been shot in the city in 2022.
The record-breaking violence continued in Jackson Ward on Tuesday when a man was shot in the head. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, Crime Insider sources told Jon Burkett that a man was shot multiple times on Redd Street in Mosby. While he is expected to survive, he is now part of a record-breaking statistic in the city.
"That's the worst part of it all. Not knowing," Tanya Williams, a mother grieving the loss of her daughter, said. "And what's even worse is while you're standing in stores, you don't know if you're standing next to your daughter's killer."
Demestrise Chante Simmons, 42, was shot on May 6 and died at VCU Medical Center. Her friend from King William County, Jermorlo Butler, was found dead inside her Fairfield Court home.
The killings remain a mystery.
"If you know something, say something because you live in that community," Williams said. "You don't want to live amongst a killer. You want to live and your children to live peacefully."
Tragically, it has been anything but peaceful since Simmons' untimely death. Her sister struggles daily, shouldering the loss of a sibling while trying to keep the faith. Her family is trying to move forward in life as the reality of a violent loss continues to hover.
"It hits you and it's a numb feeling," Kendra Simmons said. "I can't cry enough about it. I get angry at myself because I can't get sad enough to produce the tears and I just want my sister to know I miss and love her so much and I just want to cry but I'm numb."
Detectives believe that someone living close to Simmons has more information about what happened, saying that someone in Fairfield had to have heard.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
