In the quiet community of Ware-neck, Virginia, a night of camaraderie among friends took a tragic and violent turn, leaving one young man dead and several others wounded. The victim was 18-year-old Joshua Steven Morrison, a male who was a recent resident of Yorktown. On the night of January 17, 2016, Morrison was in a car with friends, reportedly on the way to a party.
The atmosphere was shattered by the eruption of gunfire within the vehicle.
The scene that unfolded on Gill Lane was one of chaos and desperation. When deputies arrived, they found Joshua Steven Morrison in the car, having been shot; he died at the scene. Three other individuals, a 15-year-old girl and two 20-year-old men, had also been shot but survived the ordeal. In the aftermath, the injured were scattered, with some flagging down a ride to a nearby country store for help, while another sought refuge at a nearby home.
The investigation quickly led to the arrest of Dijon Lamour Whitter, an 18-year-old from Hampton, who, in a tragic twist, was described by a friend as being best friends with Joshua Morrison. Whitter was taken into custody and faced a slew of charges, including first-degree murder, malicious wounding, and multiple counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
As the legal process began, there was a pause in the proceedings when Whitter was ordered to a state hospital to undergo treatment to restore his competency to stand trial. After he was deemed competent, the case moved forward. In July 2017, Dijon Lamour Whitter's trial commenced, but before it could conclude, he entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of second-degree murder, as well as seven other felonies. In December 2017, a judge sentenced Whitter to 50 years in prison for his role in the shooting that claimed the life of his friend and injured three others.
