In the early morning hours of June 22, 2014, in Lynchburg, Virginia, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet on Shaffer Street. When the sounds of the shots faded, 20-year-old Lawrence Maliek Giusto had been fatally wounded. Giusto was seated in a parked car when another vehicle approached, and he was struck in the back by a bullet fired from the passing car. He was rushed to a local hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries a short time later. The incident, which occurred around 2:30 a.m., was quickly determined to be a homicide, launching an intensive investigation by the Lynchburg Police Department.
The investigation into Giusto's death led to a series of arrests in the days and weeks that followed. A complex picture of the crime began to emerge as multiple individuals were implicated in the drive-by shooting. Among those taken into custody was 22-year-old April Renae Bateman, who prosecutors alleged fired the fatal shot. Along with Bateman, several other adults and three teenagers, one as young as 16, were also arrested in connection with the murder. The suspects faced a range of serious charges, including first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting from an occupied vehicle, and shooting into an occupied vehicle. One of the last to be apprehended was 18-year-old Jakiel Rasuan Benson of Lynchburg, who faced the same set of charges as the others. The case highlighted the involvement of a group of individuals in the tragic death of Lawrence Giusto.
