In the winter of 2011, a life was tragically cut short in what began as a festive gathering. Dontae Jamar 'Teddy' Howard, a 23-year-old male from Yorktown, Virginia, was shot on December 18, 2011, while leaving a Christmas party at a hotel in Williamsburg. He succumbed to his injuries two days later, on December 20, 2011. Howard was one of three people shot during the incident; the other two victims survived their wounds.
At the time of his passing, he was an employee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The shooting occurred after a man who had been ejected from the party allegedly opened fire. Dontae Howard was struck in the head. The senseless act of violence turned a holiday celebration into a scene of tragedy, leaving a family to grapple with an unimaginable loss right before Christmas. His father, George Robinson, later recounted the moment he received the devastating news, saying, 'My wife and I had just wrapped his presents and went to bed when we got the call he was shot in the head and I said 'no that can't be my son''.
In the wake of the shooting, law enforcement identified a suspect. Tyshaun Lenard Thomas, 31 years old at the time, was named as the gunman. He was subsequently apprehended by U.S. Marshals in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 13, 2012. Thomas faced warrants for homicide and maiming in connection with the shooting that claimed Dontae Howard's life and injured two others. The arrest brought a measure of relief to Howard's grieving family, with his father expressing his hope for peace and justice.
