In the quiet community of Williamsburg, Virginia, the life of 22-year-old Diamonte Malik Brown was tragically cut short on the evening of August 8, 2021. Known affectionately as “D,” Brown was a well-known and loved figure in both the Williamsburg and York County communities. A graduate of Jamestown High School, he had been a proud member of the basketball team that went to the state championship, and he continued his passion for the sport at Chowan University.
His greatest joys, however, were his mother and his beloved daughter.
On that fateful Sunday night, at approximately 9:15 p.m., the James City County Police and Fire Departments were dispatched to the area of Carriage Road and Alesa Drive following reports of a gunshot victim. Upon arrival, they discovered Diamonte Malik Brown unresponsive in the street in the 200 block of Alesa Drive. He was immediately transported by medics to Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, but tragically, he was pronounced deceased. It was later revealed that another 22-year-old man from James City County had also sustained a gunshot wound to the leg during the same incident. He had been driven to the hospital by a friend before law enforcement arrived, and his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The investigation into the double shooting moved swiftly, and just two days later, on August 10, 2021, officers with the James City County Police Department made an arrest. Forty-two-year-old Naieveo Alidro Hairston of Newport News was taken into custody at a motel in his home city. He faced a litany of serious charges in connection with the incident, including murder, robbery, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, malicious wounding, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The arrest brought a swift, though not final, development to a case that had suddenly and violently disrupted the peace of the community and left a family to grieve the loss of a young man.
