DeShawn Marcel Powell, a twenty-year-old male, tragically lost his life on the evening of July 22, 2021, in Hampton, Virginia. He was working at a Papa John's Pizza on East Mercury Boulevard when he became an innocent bystander to a domestic dispute. In an act of courage, Powell attempted to intervene in the altercation, a decision that would ultimately cost him his life. During the incident, he sustained a gunshot wound.
Emergency services arrived at the scene and transported him to a local hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal.
The Hampton Police Division quickly launched an investigation into the shooting. Their efforts led them to identify a suspect, Jaylin Divyne Avery, a twenty-two-year-old man from Portsmouth. A day after the fatal shooting, police had named Avery as a person of interest. Following a search, Avery was taken into custody on August 9, 2021, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Task Force and the Portsmouth Police Department. He was subsequently charged with murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and reckless handling of a firearm.
Jaylin Divyne Avery's case proceeded to trial. On the first day of the trial, after prosecutors presented video evidence of the crime to the jury, Avery chose to plead guilty to the charges against him. For his role in the death of DeShawn Powell, Avery was sentenced to 40 years of active time in prison. The resolution of the case brought a measure of justice for a young man who was killed while trying to help someone else.
