Lashawn Deondre Shelton, a 26-year-old Black / African American male from Beckley, West Virginia, was caught in a burst of gunfire on Saturday night, April 22, 2023, near Sheridan Avenue and Seventh Avenue in Beckley. Police said the shooting unfolded around 8:30 p.m. and involved people in two vehicles firing at each other before the vehicles crashed.
When officers arrived, they found a chaotic scene with two wrecked vehicles, multiple firearms, and roughly 100 shell casings scattered in the area.
Three men were found suffering from gunshot wounds after the shooting. Shelton was among the wounded and was taken to a Charleston-area hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Public reports from police and news outlets gave slightly different dates for his death, with police reporting that he died after the April 22 shooting and later coverage stating he passed away at the hospital on Tuesday, April 25, while obituary notices listed April 24. The shooting came during a frightening stretch of violence in Beckley, where several shootings had occurred within days of one another.
Investigators believed the Sheridan Avenue shooting was not an isolated event. Beckley police said it appeared to be connected to another shooting that had happened two days earlier, and local reporting described the violence as part of a string of shootings that left the community shaken. Just days before Shelton was shot, another man, Malique Medley, was fatally wounded in the East Park neighborhood, and a teenager had also been shot while walking home from work in the Harper Road area. In response, Beckley police increased their presence in the area and said they were working to prevent further violence.
After the shooting that led to Shelton’s death, police made an arrest connected to the incident. Chevauhn Akeem Gray, 26, was taken into custody and charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Authorities said the charge stemmed from the April 22 shooting near Sheridan Avenue and Seventh Avenue, but early reports did not specify Gray’s exact alleged role in the gunfire or accuse him publicly of firing the fatal shot. Police said they expected more charges and additional arrests as the investigation continued.
At the time of the early reports, no murder conviction or trial outcome was publicly available in the sources reviewed. Investigators continued asking the public for information, and Beckley police urged anyone with knowledge of the shooting to contact the Beckley Police Department Detective Bureau or Crime Stoppers of West Virginia. The case stood out not only because Shelton lost his life, but because his death came amid a wave of gun violence that left residents pleading for peace and demanding answers from city leaders.
