VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The 12 names of those shot and killed on May 31, 2019, were read aloud Tuesday in front of the municipal center’s Building 2 where the horror played out.
Several devastated family members of the victims are calling themselves 5/31 Families United as they call for transparency and demand answers about the shooting.
Sarah Gayle Leonard’s mother Mary Lou Gayle was murdered that day at work. She was a city employee for 24 years. Gayle Leonard said her mother warned supervisors about the shooter’s odd behavior a year beforehand.
“She never had anything negative to say,” said Gayle Leonard. “For her to express concern repeatedly that fell on deaf ears, and now for that record to be completely missing is very concerning.”
Three and a half years after the massacre, Gayle Leonard said her family is still in pain and is suffering.
“My heart and my brain have been broken by what has transpired,” she said. “Every day when I come home from work, I cry because I’m used to calling my mom at that time. No part of it is healed. No part of it can heal because we know the truth hasn’t even been told.”
Those families are now calling on the city and demanding justice and support, including mental health resources and insurance benefits. They say they’ve only known fragments of what happened that day.
“In the years since her untimely death and preventable death, her 24 years of service has not offered her grieving and distraught family any answers of accountability," said Matt Gayle of his mother Mary Lou. "Instead, we’ve been met with manipulation and lies."
Denise Smallwood lost her twin brother Joshua O. Hardy.
“We have been stepped on; stepped across; ignored; pushed to the side; disrespected; lied to; deceived; tortured and just totally forgotten,” Smallwood said. “It is time for justice.”
Jason Nixon is leading the fight. He said his family was denied medical benefits after his wife Kate, a city engineer and mother to their three young girls, was killed.
“You know what their (city) response was? Kate did not technically retire from the City of Virginia Beach, so they couldn’t give me medical, dental, and eye insurance,” said Nixon. “What a slap in the face that was to me and my family, my girls.”
Former Lt. governor and lawyer Justin Fairfax said he’s retained five of the families to represent so far - the families of Kate Nixon; Mary Lou Gayle; LaQuita Brown; Joshua O. Hardy; and Missy Langer.
Fairfax said now is the time the city should reimburse them for mental health treatment and other costs the families have shouldered from the lingering pain.
“For three and a half years, these families had to fight on their own,” he said. “They no longer have to fight on their own. We are all in this together. I do not want one more year to go by without justice for these families.”
The city responded late Tuesday afternoon. In a statement, the city said they’ve been transparent with internal investigation, worked with the FBI to review evidence, and provided support, including a combined $1.5 million in workers compensation benefits.
The city spokesperson Tiffany Russell sent this statement:
The horrific events of May 31, 2019 left an indelible scar on everyone affiliated with the City of Virginia Beach, especially the families of those who died and were injured that day. Four investigative reviews have occurred in the past 3.5 years to help us try to understand this senseless tragedy:
- Our Virginia Beach Police Department conducted an in-depth internal investigation and shared the results publicly.
- Hillard Heintze conducted an independent review. We continue to implement recommendations of this report to include efforts like Human Resources centralization and security improvements through the addition of our Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Security Division.
- The City fully cooperated with the FBI. The FBI independently reviewed all known electronic data associated with the shooter.
- The City continues to assist the Commission on the May 31, 2019 Virginia Beach Mass Shooting. We have answered the questions of the commission in writing and have attended their public meeting. We continue to respond to their questions related to ongoing efforts of our organization as part of this incident.
The City has willingly supported our employees and the victims’ families since that day. While not an exhaustive list of our support, the City provided the following:
- Every victim’s family was offered individual meetings with our Police Department to review and discuss investigative findings.
- The City established a dedicated office and staff resources committed to long-term recovery efforts for those impacted and our workforce.
- The six physically injured workers have received from the City a combined $5.3M in workers compensation benefits to-date.
- The estates of the 11 employees we lost that day have received from the City a combined $1.5M in workers compensation benefits.
- The above funding is in addition to the kind donations the families/injured workers received from the United Way-administered charitable fund.
- The VB Strong Center, established October 2019, continues to offer services into 2023 to empower and uplift those affected by May 31 in their journeys to healing and resiliency.
The City shares the families’ desire to obtain a full forensic evaluation of the recently discovered laptop that allegedly belongs to the shooter. We look forward to prompt submission of this laptop to a law enforcement agency for evaluation. We share the families’ hopes that it will shed further light on May 31, 2019.
Several families are heading to Richmond to meet with the attorney general on Wednesday about their concerns.
Fairfax will also be at the meeting. He said right now, he’s pursuing legal avenues and would not specify if he would take this fight to court.
