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Orlanda Shaw Shot Over $20 in Richmond

By on June 2, 2012
Orlanda Juwarren Shaw

Orlanda Juwarren Shaw

As Orlanda Juwarren Shaw Jr. was lying on the ground, shot after a dispute over $20, one of his assailants spit in his face and told him, “I hope you die.”

Shaw, 19, was fatally shot Thursday outside the home he shared with his grandmother in the 3700 block of Bonmark Drive in South Richmond after an argument exploded into an exchange of gunfire.

Shaw had shot two of his assailants before he was shot, kicked and shot again, said his grandmother, Rachel Mae Johnson, who witnessed the event.

Authorities charged three people in the case with one count each of conspiracy to commit murder: Jewel Wiggins, 19; her mother, Maria Y. Wiggins, 41; and Antonio A. Fountain, 32, all of the 5900 block of Warwick Road in South Richmond.

Fountain’s exact relationship to the Wigginses could not be determined Friday.

The three suspects were arraigned Friday in Richmond General District Court and jailed without bail.

The dispute that led to Shaw’s death centered on a shirt Jewel Wiggins had bought for Shaw, Johnson said. Shaw and Wiggins were friends but had not been dating, she said.

Johnson said Jewel Wiggins was upset because she believed Shaw owed her $20 for the shirt and had told her mother about it. But Shaw’s mother, Latarsha Johnson, said Shaw had said he planned to pay Wiggins back but that she didn’t want the money.

Shortly before Shaw was fatally shot, while he and Rachel Johnson were driving to their home, Shaw told her he was tired of people harassing him. He also indicated to her that the harassment had involved some kind of threat to Johnson.

“He said, ‘Now they’re going to do something to you,’ ” Johnson said Friday.

Johnson, in an emotional interview, gave the following account of what unfolded outside her house:

She and Shaw arrived home shortly after 5 p.m. and were confronted by a man, a woman and the woman’s mother, all of whom had been waiting in a car near the house.

The man was armed with a handgun, and the older of the two women had a shotgun.

“I was calling 911,” Johnson said.

The man handed his weapon to the armed woman and started beating Shaw in the front yard.

“He was trying to get away and he was running to the steps,” Johnson said, referring to Shaw. “When he got to the steps, the mother pulled him back by his shirt, but he got away from her.”

Johnson said the man was saying, “You’re not going to disrespect my daughter.”

Johnson said Jewel Wiggins tried to show Johnson her phone and was reading aloud a text that had been sent by Shaw, something about the $20.

While Johnson was still outside with the assailants, Shaw retreated inside the house, armed himself with his pistol, emerged outside and shot the man and the older of the two women, each in the arm, Johnson said.

“He thought they were going to shoot me, I guess,” Johnson said Friday. “He opened that door and started shooting. He was trying to defend me.”

Then either the armed man or the armed woman shot Shaw in the face and he fell, Johnson said.

After Shaw collapsed in the driveway, the man took the shotgun back to the car and took a handgun from a black box and approached Shaw, who was on the ground but still alive, Johnson said.

Johnson said the man stood over her grandson, shot him in the chest and kicked him several times.

“He kicked him, literally, so hard his body moved — three or four times,” Johnson said. “I mean hard kicks.”

Johnson said she watched the man spit on Shaw’s face and tell him, “I hope you die.”

The older of the two female assailants also kicked Shaw and stomped on him as he lay there bleeding, Johnson said.

“He was still looking at me like he wanted to say, ‘Grandma, I know I’m not going to see you no more,’ ” she said.

Shaw, Fountain and Maria Wiggins were taken to VCU Medical Center to be treated for their wounds. Shaw died at the hospital. The cause of death was gunshot wounds to the chest and shoulder, according to the state medical examiner.

The injuries to Fountain and Wiggins were not life-threatening, authorities said.

Shaw’s mother described her son as a typical teenager who had graduated from Chesterfield Community High School and was loved by many.

“He was protecting me,” Shaw’s grandmother said. “I don’t hate these people. I’m just praying for them.”

No one answered the door at the home of the suspects Friday afternoon.

Richmond Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Learned Barry said he will ask a grand jury Wednesday to indict the three suspects on murder charges. “The homicide unit, working through the night, put this case together in less than 12 hours. They did a superb job.”

A vigil for Shaw is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the crime scene, in the 3700 block of Bonmark Drive in South Richmond.