In the winter of 2016, a violent encounter in Newport News, Virginia, claimed the life of 30-year-old Quinton Antonio Kelly. On January 14th, what began as a report of a van crashing into a parked vehicle near 14th Street and Wickham Avenue quickly escalated when the call to Newport News police was updated to a shooting. Responding officers arrived to a grim scene: inside the silver van were two men who had been shot.
Both Quinton Antonio Kelly and his friend, 38-year-old Cadre Antwoine Grey of Norfolk, were pronounced dead at the location.
The events leading up to the fatal shooting were part of a robbery gone wrong. Kelly and Grey were in the van with two other men, Laratio Lorenzo Dantzler and Stephen Lorenzo Hayes. After an unsuccessful attempt to cash a fraudulent check, Dantzler and Hayes pulled out guns and announced a robbery. The driver of the van, in a desperate attempt to escape, intentionally crashed the vehicle. In the ensuing chaos, both Kelly and Grey were shot.
A witness at the scene was able to point out a fleeing suspect to the police. Officers pursued Laratio Lorenzo Dantzler, who was armed and refused to surrender. An exchange of gunfire followed, resulting in Dantzler being shot in the abdomen and subsequently apprehended. He was taken into police custody on January 18, 2016, and faced a litany of charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The second suspect, Stephen Lorenzo Hayes, turned himself in to authorities on February 16, 2016. He was initially charged with two counts of attempted robbery and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. However, the murder charges against Hayes were later dropped. The case against the two men was significantly bolstered by a startling piece of evidence: the entire incident was unintentionally captured on video by a private investigator who was in the area conducting an unrelated surveillance. This video provided a clear account of the robbery and the moments leading up to the tragic deaths of Quinton Antonio Kelly and Cadre Antwoine Grey. Laratio Lorenzo Dantzler was ultimately sentenced to two life terms for the double slaying.
