YORK COUNTY — The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that the federal government would be taking over the case and prosecuting the five people involved in the May 6 homicide of Tyosha Tanique Mitchell on Old Williamsburg Road in York County.
The body of 25-year-old Mitchell was found on the side of the road in the early morning hours of May 6. Police were alerted by a jogger who spotted the body while passing by.
Four suspects were arrested in May in connection to the homicide: Jamica Danielle Langley, Acacia Jackson, Hezekiah Janile “H.K.” Carney and Jayquan A. Jones. A fifth, Donnisha Goodman, turned herself in to authorities in June. The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office (YPSO) said at the time the crime was gang-related.
YPSO said that Mitchell had been forcibly taken from Richmond in the early hours of Saturday morning, May 6, and had died at the scene as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. According to Sheriff Ron Montgomery, 14 shell casings were found nearby.
Montgomery said that yesterday, the charges in York County General District Court were nolle pros, meaning the Commonwealth no longer wished to prosecute the case. Two of the individuals — Goodman and Jackson — have now been charged on federal indictments. Carney and Jones are in federal custody on other charges, he added, and Langley is headed to Richmond to serve time for a 2020 homicide.
“None of these individuals are going to be released. They are all in either federal or state custody, and going forward, at least four of them at this point and time will be facing federal charges for the death of Tyosha Tanique Mitchell,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery said those charged fell under the RICO Act due to the crimes being part of gang-related activities. All involved face the potential of life in prison without parole.
“We reached out to the family this morning, talked to the grandmother and to the mother, and they were both extremely relieved to know that nobody was getting out of jail and that this was not going to end. That they were going to be prosecuted federally,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery stressed he wanted to relieve any concerns in the community that the case would not be prosecuted when the charges were withdrawn.
“I want the word to be that if you come to York County, Virginia, and commit this kind of crime, you’re going to be arrested and you’re going to be prosecuted,” he explained. “In York County, this is not a common occurrence. This was a very rare crime to have a crime with this type of violence. But as you’ve seen here recently, in the Hampton Roads area, there’s a lot of gun violence going on right now. So, it’s important for all the local law enforcement agencies to work with their federal partners to try to slow that down.”
