In the early morning hours of October 6, 2021, a fatal encounter unfolded in a shed in Portsmouth, Virginia, that would end the life of 23-year-old Quashawn Clark. The young man, a resident of the city, was shot during what court documents describe as an attempted drug robbery. The incident took place in the 2100 block of Piedmont Avenue.
Following the shooting, Clark managed to get into a vehicle and flee the scene.
However, his desperate attempt to escape was short-lived as he crashed the vehicle into a nearby home on Palmer Street. Emergency responders arrived to find him critically injured and transported him to a local hospital, where he was ultimately pronounced dead.
The investigation into the shooting led police to two men, 58-year-old Tony Hicks and his cousin, Thomas Austin. According to court documents, Hicks and Austin were sleeping in the shed when Clark, who had reportedly been there multiple times the previous night to buy drugs, returned around 4:30 a.m. It is alleged that Clark forced his way into the shed and demanded drugs at gunpoint. During the ensuing struggle, Austin is said to have retrieved a gun and shot Clark.
Both Hicks and Austin faced multiple charges in connection with Clark's death, including second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Tony Hicks was arrested, and while he initially denied his involvement, he later admitted that Austin had fired the fatal shot. In a preliminary hearing in May 2022, the murder and firearm charges against Hicks were dropped, with only a narcotics distribution charge being certified to a higher court. Thomas Austin was also charged with second-degree murder and firearm offenses and was wanted by the police in connection with the incident.
