Salonya Evans: Mother Found Shot To Death In Roanoke
Salonya Evans, 24, was found fatally shot just steps from her home in Roanoke, Virginia on Sunday, July 21, 2019. Police are looking for a suspect(s) in the murder.
Salonya Evans, of Roanoke, Virginia, was found shot to death on a city street E just after 1 a.m. on Sunday, July 21, 2019, according to Roanoke City Police Department.
Why was she killed? Nobody seems to know. Evans’ pastor told local media, “Salonya was a beautiful person, inside and outside. She didn’t have anybody that she was against. She loved everybody.”
Neighbors reported hearing a woman scream and gunfire, according to local media reports.
Roanoke.com reports that Evans’ boyfriend told authorities shortly after Evans was found that her home was robbed. He “had just arrived home, discovered that his residence had been broken into, and his live-in girlfriend was missing,” said the warrant filed this week in Roanoke Circuit Court.
Neighbors on the scene of the mysterious slaying told local media they were disturbed over the length of time the investigators let the body stay visible to the public, WFXR reports.
“We do everything we can to treat victims with the utmost respect while following those protocols,” Roanoke City Police Department’ said in a statement, “We work as efficiently as possible given a number of circumstances that are always changing. Furthermore, the body cannot be moved until released by the Medical Examiner’s Office.”
The victim was the mother to a 4-year-old daughter. A family friend said the girl’s birthday party is Saturday.
“We’re going from planning a birthday party on Saturday to trying to plan a funeral for her mother, ” Bishop Jamaal Jackson, Salonya’s Pastor, said quoted as saying, “It’s just not fair! We shouldn’t be having to deal with this right now. But we are. And we’re looking for peace for this family.”
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where Evans worked as a certified nursing assistant, said they were “heartbroken at the loss of our colleague.”
Anyone with information can call (540)344-8500, or text “RoanokePD” to 274637.
