In the early morning hours of June 10, 2011, a tragic event unfolded in Norfolk, Virginia, forever altering the lives of a promising university student and his family. Christopher Cummings, a 20-year-old male student at Old Dominion University, was fatally shot inside his off-campus home in the 800 block of W. 42nd Street. His roommate, Jake Carey, was also shot multiple times but survived his life-threatening injuries.
The incident, which appeared to be a burglary, left a community in shock and a family searching for answers for over a decade.
The investigation into Cummings' death was a long and arduous one, stretching on for ten years. Investigators relentlessly pursued leads to bring those responsible to justice. A significant breakthrough in the cold case came in August 2021, when four men from Newport News were arrested and charged in connection with the murder. The suspects were identified as Kwaume L. Edwards, 32; Javon L. Doyle, 31; Ahmad R. Watson, 30; and Rashad D. Dooley, 28. Each of them faced 15 charges, including homicide, first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The legal proceedings that followed the arrests brought a mix of outcomes for the four accused men. In September 2022, Rashad D. Dooley was found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. He initially fled the courtroom after the verdict but was later arrested and, in February 2023, sentenced to 25 years in prison. Javon Doyle, another of the suspects, was acquitted of all charges in February 2023 after a jury deliberated for two hours. This came after an earlier trial in August 2022 ended in a hung jury. The cases against the remaining two suspects, Ahmad Watson and Kwaume Edwards, were dismissed with prejudice.
