With shoelaces and candles, loved ones honor 25-year-old shot by police at Oceanfront
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) -- Questions remain on what exactly happened at the Oceanfront on Friday night.
After the violence subsided, 10 people had been shot, eight were hurt and two people were dead in multiple shootings.
A local man, 25-year-old Donovon Lynch, was shot and killed by police. That shooting is under investigation.
While law enforcement is trying to piece together a complicated puzzle, the community is mourning.
On Tuesday night, hundreds of friends, family and strangers stood side by side to honor the life of Donovon Lynch, a man described by friends as an “intelligent, kind and passionate human being who always made anyone around him smile.”
His father spoke to 10 On Your Side and said his son was a good man.
The vigil Tuesday night took place under a tree on the corner of 20th Street and Pacific Avenue, near where Lynch was killed.
Family and friends lit candles in his honor -- but the glow of those candles could never match the glow of Lynch's person.
Many people also left shoelaces. Donovon Lynch owned his own business related to shoes. Those at the vigil said the laces tie them all together.
"Donovon was a prince. On his way to being a king,” said one speaker at the vigil.
“It’s not how Dom was supposed to have went out -- it’s not it,” another speaker said.
Donovon Lynch's sister, Lauryn Lynch, spoke at the vigil, at times in tears.
“If he had to come get me at 1 o’clock in the morning from a hair appointment, he was going to come and get me. He might have been a little mad 'cause he was losing sleep and had to go to work in the morning, but it didn’t matter. He was still going to come get me,” she said.
That was Donovon Lynch -- described by those closest to him as driven, compassionate and very punctual.
“He used to be like 'I thought you told me you were ready.' So I would tell him I was ready because I was thinking it would take longer. Every time if it was three o’clock. Then it would be time,” Lauryn Lynch said.
And in that spirit, Tuesday night, Lauryn Lynch made clear that the focus was about how her brother lived, not how he was taken.
“Trying to paint my bother to be something that isn’t even in our blood to be,” she said.
But just the same the circumstance couldn’t be ignored.
Lauryn Lynch said what makes her angry is that her older brother was taken by an employee of the city he loved.
Donovon Lynch was shot by a police officer on 19th Street after police said he brandished a weapon. His family has said he had a concealed carry permit and discounted police's statements about his actions leading up to the shooting.
His cousin was angry after hearing from the police chief Tuesday that the shooting that started the chaos at the Oceanfront last Friday -- before a police officer came into contact with Donovon Lynch and fatally shot him -- was gang-related.
28-year-old Deshayla Harris was shot and killed Friday night around the same time. Police have not yet arrested any suspects in connection with her death.
Neudigate said they’ve charged several people so far, and from interviews, he said they know they are associated with two local gangs. On Tuesday, police announced they had arrested three more people on charges relating to selling weapons to convicted felons. Another man is accused of hitting a police officer with a car.
They said Donovon Lynch stood for none of that violence.
And now, his loved ones won’t stand for anything less than justice. No matter how long it takes.
His sister says Donovon Lynch is certainly watching over them all.
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