In the late hours of May 4, 2019, a tragic event unfolded in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Effingham Street in Portsmouth, Virginia, leading to the death of 19-year-old Shianne T. Soles. A Navy Hospitalman from Veradale, Washington, Soles was with her friend and fellow service member, 23-year-old Meaghan Burns, when they were both fatally shot. Both women were active-duty military personnel stationed at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
The shooting occurred at approximately 11:22 p.m., and both Soles and Burns were pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds to their torsos.
The investigation quickly identified the shooter as 22-year-old Donavon Moora, an active-duty military member from New York who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Shortly after the shooting, Moora was found deceased in a vehicle in the parking lot of a nearby Dollar General. His death was determined to be the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Law enforcement officials characterized the incident as a double murder-suicide and stated they were not seeking any other suspects.
The motive for the killings remains unclear, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and local police investigated the circumstances leading up to the tragic event. Described as a 'bright light' by her family, Shianne Soles had enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July of the previous year after graduating from Central Valley High School and Spokane Community College. Her family remembered her as a driven and compassionate individual with a contagious smile who had a passion for helping others. The incident left the community and their fellow service members in profound grief, with officials describing it as a 'tragic' event and making mental health professionals and chaplains available to those affected.
