Do you know who murdered Mason Jones and Joshua Compton?
In the early hours of April 15, 2009, a night that was supposed to be filled with video games and pizza for two best friends on spring break turned into a tragedy. Seventeen-year-old Joshua Compton and his sixteen-year-old friend, Mason Jones, were shot and killed in the doorway of Joshua's home on Rowland Avenue in the South Norfolk section of Chesapeake, Virginia. Joshua, a student at Oscar F. Smith High School, was recovering from an appendectomy he had undergone just the day before.
Shortly after midnight, a knock came at the door. Two individuals asked to speak with Joshua. He and Mason went to the front door and spoke with the men for about ten minutes. Joshua’s mother, Diane Compton, was in the house at the time and witnessed the horrific events that followed. Without warning, gunfire erupted, and both teenagers were struck multiple times. Joshua was shot four times in the chest, stomach, back, and the back of his head. His mother tried to save him before paramedics arrived, but his injuries were too severe. Mason Jones was also killed in the entryway of the home.
Following the shooting, the two suspects fled the scene and got into a car with a third person. Diane Compton was able to provide a description of one of the shooters to the police. He was described as a stocky Black man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with squinted eyes, a wide face, and was wearing a white cap or bandana and a dark-blue feather-down coat. Despite this description and years of investigation, the case remains unsolved. The Chesapeake Police Department continues to list the murders of Joshua Compton and Mason Jones as a cold case and encourages anyone with information to come forward. No arrests have ever been made in connection with the double homicide.
