In the early morning hours of August 23, 2013, the life of 29-year-old Sakinah Myeshia Breathwaite of Chesapeake, Virginia, was tragically cut short. The incident unfolded in the parking lot of the Newmarket Square Shopping Center in Hampton. Just after 2:00 a.m., police officers who were already in the vicinity of the shopping center heard a gunshot. Their investigation led them to discover Breathwaite, who had sustained a single gunshot wound to her upper body.
Despite the prompt response from Hampton Fire and Rescue, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that Breathwaite had been engaged in a verbal altercation with another woman in the parking lot outside The Alley nightclub. The argument escalated dramatically when the other woman, identified as 21-year-old Crystal Evita Harrell of Newport News, reportedly retrieved a firearm and shot Breathwaite. Following the shooting, Harrell fled the scene in a dark-colored Audi.
Thanks to the quick actions of witnesses who provided a description of the suspect's vehicle, Hampton police were able to broadcast the information to officers throughout the city. Within a mere four minutes of the shot being fired, officers located a vehicle matching the description in the 900 block of Aberdeen Road. A traffic stop was conducted, and Harrell was taken into custody. She was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of murder and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. The case against Crystal Evita Harrell then proceeded through the legal system.
