2 die in city shooting

Seth Rosen / Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: December 26, 2007

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The night after Christmas, the Westhaven housing complex was the scene of a ghastly murder-suicide that left a community stunned and seeking answers.

A 19-year-old Charlottes-ville man shot and killed a woman in their apartment off of Hardy Drive before killing himself in the parking lot outside, authorities said.

As of press time, Charlottesville police had not released the names of the individuals in the shooting. While authorities said that the man and woman, believed to be 20 or 21, were not married, several neighbors confirmed that they had been dating.

At approximately 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, the man shot the woman in the apartment they shared in the 800 block of Hardy Drive, Lt. Gary Pleasants said. The man then left the building and committed suicide in the parking lot behind the apartment complex.

Police have no motive for the murder-suicide, Pleasants said. Both were taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center.

A male neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said he was walking by the parking lot when he saw the 19-year-old shoot himself.

"It was crazy," said the neighbor, who knew both individuals. "He just shot himself in the head."

"I can't believe this happened the day after Christmas," he added, still visibly shaken.

Several neighbors stood in the cold Wednesday night, watching police clear the scene. Some of those interviewed expressed shock that such a terrible event could happen so close to Christmas.

"What is this world coming to-" asked a middle-aged woman who lives across the street from the apartment building.

This was second murder in Westhaven this year. In June, 28-year-old William Miller Herndon was shot multiple times in the 800 block of Hardy Drive. Police charged Jason Scott Marshman in the case.

And on Sunday, several bullets pierced the windows of a home on the other side of Hardy Drive from the scene of Wednesday's murder-suicide, but no one was injured.

This was the third murder of 2007 in Charlottesville.