Shooting victim’s mother sues city
$50M suit alleges Virginia Beach hasn’t provided answers about woman’s death
VIRGINIA BEACH — The mother of a woman who was killed in a spate of shootings at the Oceanfront two years ago is suing the city of Virginia Beach for answers.
The $50 million lawsuit alleges police failed to protect civilians during the shootings and that an officer may have shot 28-year-old Deshayla Harris on March 26, 2021, according to the complaint.
A lawyer for her estate says the family has not received satisfactory responses when asking the city for information about the violent night at the Oceanfront, when 10 people were shot, two fatally.
“The Harris family wants answers and justice,” said Justin Fairfax, one of the lawyer’s representing Elisheba Harris, Deshayla’s mother. Fairfax was Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018-22.
Virginia Beach issued a response Friday evening to the suit that said the city’s police department is working “tirelessly” to find Deshayla’s killer.
“There is no evidence that a Virginia Beach police officer or a Virginia Beach officer’s service weapon was involved in the death of Deshayla Harris,” the statement said. The department said the same when Elisheba Harris first started raising questions in the weeks following her daughter’s death.
In addition to $50 million, the family is seeking $350,000 in punitive damages. Fairfax said Elisheba Harris’ document requests for a ballistics report have gone unheeded by Virginia Beach for two years.
“Now, they’re going to have to hear this family,” Fairfax said. “They’re going to have to hear their cries for justice.”
“It really is outrageous that you would let that amount of time to go by — two years — and give this family no answers, no justice and no transparency,” Fairfax said. “There has been no accountability in the killing of Deshayla Harris.”
Elisheba Harris is not just looking for justice by finding out who killed her daughter, but also legal changes to make sure nobody else is ever in the same position — at odds with the department investigating the homicide, according to Fairfax.
Harris’ estate chose to sue the city because their ability to do so would have expired Monday due to the statute of limitations, according to Fairfax.
“No family in the commonwealth of Virginia should ever be treated this
way,” Fairfax said.
Elisheba Harris could not be reached for comment Saturday.