19-year-old fatally shot downtown

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: July 19, 2008

A Curious George doll was stationed at the corner of Sixth Street Southeast and Monticello Avenue on Saturday, festooned with balloons, fake flowers and a pinwheel bearing the words “RIP Spankie.”

The memorial was in honor of a 19-year-old Charlot-tesville man who was found shot to death in the 700 block of Sixth Street Southeast. City police spent the day investigating the killing, which they discovered after hearing gunfire while on patrol around 3 a.m.

“When they responded to the area, one of the officers discovered the body of a male subject who died of an apparent gunshot wound,” Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said. “The detectives have been working non-stop, along with crime scene investigators, gathering facts relevant to the event.”

As of Saturday night, police had not identified the victim or released anyinformation on possible suspects. Anyone with information about the incident should call Crimestoppers at 977-4000.

People in the nearby Friendship Court apartment complex Saturday declined to reveal what happened that morning. Another person who lived in a house nearby said he was unaware that someone had been shot in his neighborhood.

The last person to be shot to death in the city was an 11-year-old boy.

Aziz Damar Booth was shot June 3 in the kitchen of his home at 330 Sixth 1/2 St. S.W. Another man was wounded in the same incident.

Waverly “Eddie” Whitlock, 27, was charged with capital murder, robbery, malicious wounding and other charges.

He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing.