Case still cold 10 years after Portsmouth man was fatally shot through front door

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) -- It was just before 9 p.m. on August 31, 2011, when killers came to the front door of 32-year-old Leon Golliday when he was home with his family.

There was a heated exchange, and as Golliday tried to close the door, the killers opened fire. Bullets flew by his 5-year-old son who was sitting on a sofa, but Golliday, whose loved ones called Jay, was shot in the head. He collapsed and landed at his daughter's feet.

10 years later, his family gathered at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery. 12 doves were released in memory of Jay, and 2 doves were released in memory of his father, who died in August of 2019. The dove handler had these words of consolation for the family.

"When I release these doves today they will be going home."

The unsolved murder hit close to home for Jay's sister Patrice Bondo, personally and professionally. She is a veteran criminal investigator. Her resume includes duty as a Suffolk police officer.

"It hits home being in that career field and having it happen so close to home," Bondo said.

Bondo, with law enforcement contacts across the country, called the Portsmouth Police Department a week before the 10th anniversary for an update on the status of the investigation. The family says the case has been a cold case almost from the beginning.

"The police department says they're lacking resources, manpower even less now than there were 10 years ago," Bondo said.

Police departments in Hampton Roads and around the country are reporting a shortage of officers just as violent crime is on the rise.

As the case remains unsolved, family members say the stress associated with Golliday's violent death has harmed their health. "Yes very much, yes very much ... mentally and physically it has affected me," said his mother. "I have no answers; none at all, a cold case they are not looking at anything," she said in assessing the status of the investigation.

from WAVY.com https://ift.tt/3mMymJ4