Dinwiddie man ID'ed as shooting victim at Chester truck stop; Facebookers mourn the loss
CHESTER — Chesterfield Police have identified the victim and one of the suspects in a fatal shooting Sunday night at a local truck stop.
Keon A. Clanton, 35, of the 17300 block of Old Stage Road in Dinwiddie County, was shot around 6 p.m. Sunday at the Pilot Travel Center on Ruffin Mill Road. He was taken to Bon Secours Southside Medical Center in Petersburg where he later died.
Witnesses told police the suspects fled the scene in a car just after the shooting.
Minutes later, police said, that car was involved in a crash near the intersection of West Hundred Road and Route One. Officers arrested Darnell S. White, 32, of the 6200 block of Verdict Court in the Courthouse Greens townhouse complex near Chesterfield Court House, but the second suspect was able to escape on foot.
White has been charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held without bond at the Chesterfield County Jail.
Police released a surveillance photo of the second suspect as he was running through a neighboring mobile-home community. He is described as 6-feet-3 with black hair and last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red gym shorts, black socks and white tennis shoes.
Anyone who may have information about the killing or the whereabouts of the second suspect is asked to contact Chesterfield Police at (804) 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at (804) 748-0660.
Meanwhile, on social media, friends and family reacted to Clanton's death.
"Lost for words…so many memories Bra," one friend wrote on Facebook. Said another, "I am tired. Tired of seeing R.I.P. and tired of saying it. Too many lives leaving this earth too soon. Some due to health issues, and some to due the hands of each other. It is not right. My heart is heavy."
Pastor Belinda Baugh, of New Divine Worship Center in Petersburg, posted a Facebook video from the hospital where she spoke about how the recent spate of killings is a "regional thing," not just Petersburg. In the background, sobs and cries from Clanton's family members assembled at the hospital can be heard.
Baugh said Monday morning that Clanton was not a member of her church, but she knows many of his family members. She said they called her with the news, and she went over to the hospital to be with them.
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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist and daily news coach for USA TODAY' Network's Atlantic Region which includes Virginia. He is based in Petersburg, Virginia. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Dinwiddie County man ID'ed as victim of fatal shooting in Chester
