Family and friends hold vigil for 25-year-old shot by police
Any positive adjective you can think of — that’s Donovon Lynch, his dad, Wayne Lynch, said at a vigil Tuesday night.
Smart. Handsome. Athletic. Humble.
More than 100 friends, family and community members gathered at the intersection of 20th Street and Pacific Avenue, near where Lynch, 25, was shot and killed by police Friday during a chaotic night of violence. He was one of two people killed, with eight others seriously injured.
Some wore shirts and sweatshirts with his name and picture on the front. Sporadic chants — such as “Justice for Donovon Lynch” — broke out during the vigil.
People lit green and white candles — one in a drinking glass with a Philadelphia Eagles sticker, his favorite football team. Miniature candles were organized on the ground to spell out his initials — D.L. A picture of Lynch in his graduation cap and gown was placed against a tree.
People tied shoestrings around its branches, in honor of Lynch’s passion for shoes and the shoe company he planned to build.
Some shared stories of Lynch; many described him as a big brother. They said he was caring and passionate, starting several businesses. Several said they knew Lynch was not the type police portrayed him to be.
Police initially claimed Lynch was an “armed citizen,” but the next day, Police Chief Paul Neudigate said there was no evidence that a gun found “in the vicinity” of the shooting was Lynch’s. The officer who shot Lynch did not have his body camera activated.
On Monday, police reversed course again, saying that Lynch “was brandishing a handgun at the time of the shooting,” according to interviews with the officer who shot Lynch and another officer who witnessed the shooting.
That’s not the Donovon Lynch they know, friends and family said.
“I’ve been working day and night to prevent other kids from getting killed, and my son gets killed. For nothing. For walking down the street,” Wayne Lynch said.
His sister, Lauryn, said she knows her brother wasn’t violent — they just weren’t raised that way.
Friends and family talked about how much Lynch loved Virginia Beach, making sure everyone knew he was from the 757 area code even when he went to a community college in San Francisco. His sister said, through tears, she’s angry her brother isn’t here anymore; he was “taken by a city that he loved with his whole heart,” she said.
The family called for the community to share the type of man Donovon was — and for accountability and transparency from the Virginia Beach Police Department.
Family and friends urged calm and patience. Remain peaceful, they said. Wayne Lynch repeatedly told the crowd to “keep cool” moving forward, saying the truth will prevail.
“When we finish with the city of Virginia Beach, he will have the biggest building in the city with his name on it,” he said.