Police are investigating whether or not the savage “thriller” gunman who ambushed and killed a 21-year-old girl at her Queens house was her abusive ex-boyfriend from South Carolina.
Dashanna Donovan was discovered mendacity face down in a pool of blood round 9:20 p.m. Friday with a number of gunshot wounds to her higher physique and head in East Elmhurst, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny stated in an replace Thursday.
Video captured her “hanging out” and sitting in an open courtyard behind her constructing close to 96th Road and thirty first Avenue, when she out of the blue seemed up and noticed the gunman bolting towards her.
“It appears simply from her response, she is aware of who the perpetrator is. The perpetrator has his left arm prolonged, holding a gun,” Kenny advised reporters.
“She tries to run. She tries to run so frantically away from the scene, she truly runs out of her personal sneakers. She tries to get into the basement, the place the perpetrator catches as much as her and shoots her a number of occasions within the head, inflicting her demise,” he added.
Video surveillance captured the gunman carrying a “very distinctive Below Armor blue hoodie” within the space as early as 7 p.m., Kenny stated.
“We now have him mainly strolling forwards and backwards within the 90s in Jackson Heights, from Astoria Boulevard to Northern Boulevard, simply strolling the neighborhood, when out of the blue he pounces at 9:20 p.m.”
After the taking pictures, he was seen on a bus and a prepare again into Manhattan, the place he didn’t pay his fare on the Canal Road station, cops stated.
“So all indications are, you understand, from Queens, [he] made his manner again to Decrease Manhattan, after which we’re nonetheless monitoring video from there,” the NYPD official stated.
After working with Donovan’s household, investigators had been led to her ex-boyfriend, whom she dated whereas dwelling in South Carolina, Kenny stated.
Donovan moved to the Massive Apple simply six months in the past to stay together with her grandmother and cousin and escape an abusive relationship together with her ex.
He’s wished for home violence in South Carolina. Sooner or later, the pair labored collectively at a Walmart, police added.
Cops stated they’ve recognized an individual of curiosity, however haven’t but confirmed it to be her ex-boyfriend, noting they don’t have possible trigger at the moment.
“It’s a risk [that it’s the boyfriend]. We’re not taking that off the desk, nevertheless it’s not confirmed,” Kenny stated.
She hadn’t filed any complaints about her boyfriend in New York, authorities confirmed.
“I heard she noticed the particular person and he or she ran, so it’s undoubtedly somebody she knew,” her mother Helena Hypolite beforehand advised The Put up by telephone.
“Who? We don’t know. It’s undoubtedly a thriller,” she stated.
“I’m harm,” the heartbroken mother stated. “I really feel damaged like a chunk of me is gone.”
The younger sufferer’s boss at a McDonald’s the place she labored referred to as Donovan round 11 p.m. Friday to ask her to cowl a shift on Saturday — however she was already useless.
“She labored at a McDonald’s. All people stated she was an incredible worker. She did the in a single day shift there from 5 pm to 1 am,” Kenny stated.
Donovan, who was born on the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas, cherished dancing and her mom’s rooster curry, her grieving mother recalled.
“Her smile,” the mother stated when requested what she’d miss most about her daughter. “It simply brightened up the room. She was all the time humorous; she appreciated to crack jokes.”
When you or somebody you understand is affected by any of the problems raised on this story, name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or textual content START to 88788.
