In the early morning hours of June 23, 2013, a night out in Virginia Beach, Virginia, turned tragic for Rashawn Dukes, a 25-year-old male from North Chesterfield. An argument that began with another group of people escalated into deadly violence outside the Guadalajara restaurant and club in Town Center. As the establishment closed and patrons were leaving, an individual pulled out a gun and began shooting.
The gunfire struck three people in the ensuing chaos.
While two of the victims survived their injuries, Rashawn Dukes was fatally wounded. The shooting, which occurred around 1:30 a.m. near the stairwell of a parking garage, sent shockwaves through the community and led to the permanent closure of the Guadalajara restaurant shortly after the incident.
In the years that have followed, the case has grown cold, leaving Rashawn's family with unanswered questions and a profound sense of loss. Despite their public pleas for witnesses to come forward, no arrests have been made in connection with his murder, and no suspects have been publicly identified. Law enforcement has been hampered by a lack of substantial leads. Rashawn's father has expressed his belief that one of his son's friends who was also shot that night possesses key information but has been unwilling to cooperate with the investigation. At the time of his death, Rashawn was the father of a nine-month-old son. His family remembers him as a kind and family-oriented man whose primary focus was on his fiancée and their child.
