UPDATE: The previous version of this story referred to the victim by her middle name. The story has been updated to reflect the full name of the victim.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — One day after a woman’s body was found near a playground in Richmond, community activists are speaking out and demanding change.
“The city is in an uproar. People have no regard for life and it’s extremely sad,” said Charles Willis, Executive Director of United Communities Against Crime. “It’s not good. It’s not good at all.”
Willis is making a plea for change after a woman — now identified as Tynesha S’Taria Hopson — was found dead with an apparent gunshot wound in the city’s east end. Around 9:21 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 27, officers were called to Gillies Creek Park where they found Hopson’s body just footsteps from the playground.
“This is where our kids come to play. Now, parents in the neighborhood are saying I don’t know if I want to bring my child out here because they found somebody dead over there,” Willis said.
8News also spoke with people who knew Hopson, saying she had an upbeat personality and adding that they were shocked to hear of her death.
“To know this girl is to love her,” one friend said. “We all should be tired of young people losing their life to dumb, senseless stuff … You were somebody’s sister, cousin, daughter, aunt, niece, best friend. To take a great person like that, I ain’t got no words for it. No words.”
The City of Richmond is dealing with its sixth confirmed homicide of 2023. Willis believes the gun violence escalated during the pandemic as there was limited social interaction. He’s now calling for the use of more resources.
“I encourage the City of Richmond and its leadership to deploy resources to conflict resolution and violence prevention to everyone,” Willis said. “Somebody is mentally ill and we need to find them and send them to the Department of Corrections.”
Police have not released any suspect information. Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call Richmond Police at 804-646-5112.
