On the evening of Thanksgiving, November 28, 2019, Ashley Nicole Berry, a 33-year-old female, was leaving a holiday gathering with her youngest child in Hopewell, Virginia. A beloved Richmond Fire Department Lieutenant and mother of three, her night of celebration turned into a tragedy when gunfire erupted in the 1000 block of Sunnyside Avenue. In a final act of love, she shielded her 5-year-old son with her own body, saving his life but sustaining fatal injuries in the process. First responders found her with serious gunshot wounds and she was rushed to a nearby medical center and then to VCU Medical Center, where she ultimately succumbed to her injuries.
The investigation into the shooting spanned nearly four years, a period of immense grief for her family and community. Authorities believed from early on that Berry was not the intended target of the drive-by shooting. Instead, it was thought that the gunfire was aimed at a neighboring residence. Witnesses reported seeing a silver or gold SUV speeding away from the scene shortly after the shots were fired. For years, her family pleaded with the public for any information that could lead to an arrest, holding onto hope for justice.
In August 2023, a significant breakthrough came in the case. Darrell Donnell Taylor Jr., a 30-year-old man from Hopewell, was indicted by a grand jury in connection with Ashley Berry's death. He was charged with murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, conspiracy to commit murder, and shooting into an occupied building. At the time of the indictment, Taylor was already in custody at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center on unrelated charges. While an arrest was made, the details of what specifically led investigators to Taylor after such a prolonged period have not been publicly disclosed, as the investigation is considered ongoing. The arrest, however, brought a measure of closure to a family and community that had long awaited answers in the senseless death of a woman remembered as a hero.
