Virginia Beach officer said nothing to Donovon Lynch before shooting and killing him, witness says

Donovon Lynch and Darrion Marsh were as close as brothers, but stood out because of their differences.

Lynch, at 6-foot-5 and every bit of 305 lbs, towered over Marsh, who is slim and about 11 inches shorter. The duo had been close since 2009, when they met at Landstown High School. A dozen years later, both back in Virginia Beach, they had talked all week about heading to the Oceanfront for the first warm weekend of the year.

The night of laid-back bar-hopping — the gregarious Lynch, easy to spot and easier to get along with, was everyone’s best friend — turned into bedlam as shots rang out.

Walking out of The Boxx, an Oceanfront nightclub, they were greeted by yellow tape, sirens and crowds of police officers. Inside, they hadn’t heard a thing, but a series of shootings had started that would end with eight people seriously injured and two dead — including Lynch.

Lynch and Marsh, both 25, headed back to Marsh’s car, parked about five minutes away by a waffle shop.

They heard more shots and ducked into a different lot. Officers ran toward the gunfire, and for about two minutes there was calm.

As the friends continued forward, Lynch, with his long stride, kept gaining paces on Marsh, who was looking right at his back.

And then, with no warning, Marsh heard more shots. Lynch got hit.

Marsh looked to his left and saw the officer who shot Lynch.

The officer and Marsh were friends.

Marsh spoke to The Virginian-Pilot during an interview this month at a law firm in Virginia Beach. During the interview, Marsh detailed, for the first time publicly, what he saw the night of the March 26 shooting.

Virginia Beach police claimed that Lynch was brandishing a gun at the time of the shooting, a reversal from saying there was no immediate evidence that a gun found nearby was his. The officer who shot Lynch did not have his body camera on.

Lynch’s family previously told the Pilot that Lynch had a gun on him that night — and had a concealed weapon permit — but said the firearm never left his cargo shorts pocket.

Marsh corroborated their story.

He also shed more light on how he and Lynch knew the officer who shot Lynch.

They all attended Landstown High together.

A lawsuit filed Monday by Wayne Lynch, Donovon’s father, identified Solomon D. Simmons as the officer who shot Lynch. The lawsuit claims Simmons shot Donovon Lynch “immediately, unlawfully and without warning” and then failed to provide any aid. Both the city of Virginia Beach and Simmons are listed as defendants in the lawsuit. Wayne Lynch is seeking $50 million in damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against Simmons.

Virginia Beach police would not confirm that Simmons is the officer who shot Lynch, despite pressure from the Lynch family to do so. Police said in a press release shortly after the shooting that the officer had been with the department for five years and was assigned to the Special Operations Division. He was placed on administrative assignment pending the outcome of the investigation, police previously said.

Simmons did not return calls from a reporter.

City spokeswoman Julie Hill declined to share any new information about the shooting, saying “it would be particularly inappropriate for us to comment further on this case as it is being investigated by another agency.”

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said she will not comment on the facts related to an ongoing investigation.

But she did say the agency’s investigation “has been slowed as multiple, relevant witnesses have informed us that they were advised by attorney Jeffrey Reichert not to speak to the Virginia State Police or provide us any information.”

Reichert, who is not listed as an attorney on Wayne Lynch’s lawsuit, said, “that is absolutely not true.” He said that police tried to blindside witnesses into interviewing with investigators without an attorney present, and he pushed back on that.

Marsh said police talked to him briefly the night of the shooting, and that state police did not reach out to interview him until about a month after the shooting.

“I feel like ... the Lynches did too much for the city, for the Hampton Roads area, for them just to be calling that late,” he said.

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Brothers

Marsh first met Lynch in 9th grade at Landstown. Simmons, the officer, was a year above them, Marsh said. He was outgoing, but not exactly popular, Marsh said.

Simmons is listed as a student in Landstown High School yearbooks in 2012 and 2013, reviewed by The Pilot.

Marsh and Lynch bonded quickly, going to a lot of parties together.

“If you meet him one time, that’s not going to be the last time you see him,” he said.

Marsh described Lynch, who played football and basketball, as a great athlete, who was close with his family and very religious.

Lynch left Landstown after his freshman year, transferring to Salem High School and eventually graduating from Norfolk Christian. His father said Lynch’s athletic aspirations were the reason he attended three high schools. Then Lynch headed west, to a community college in San Francisco before ending up at the University of Virginia College at Wise, a Division II football program.

Marsh, meanwhile, moved to Jacksonville. They stayed close, and even took a trip to Miami together.

And then in February 2020, Marsh moved back to Virginia Beach and invited Lynch, who also had returned home, to a Super Bowl party. Ever since then, they were inseparable, just like old times.

Marsh would see Lynch about five times a week, sometimes just bopping over to the Planet Fitness, where Lynch worked out, to talk for five minutes.

Marsh described Lynch as a “very, very, very close friend.” Or best friend. But brother is more like it, he said.

They always liked heading to the Oceanfront — to try to pick up women, get a bite and grab a drink. They had made plans to go there a couple of weeks prior to March 26, but it didn’t work out, so they planned to go soon.

When the first stretch of 80-degree weather struck, March 26 seemed like the perfect day.

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‘Looking like a hot summer day’

After they both finished some work that Friday, Marsh drove Lynch to the Oceanfront about 7:30 p.m. Lynch hopped out to grab a bite to eat while Marsh parked the car. Lynch recorded a short video that shows him riding in Marsh’s car at 7:42 p.m., which Lynch shared on Instagram.

They met two women, whom they helped find parking at about 8:30 p.m. The foursome briefly stopped at a restaurant and then went over to now-closed nightclub The Boxx, located in the 2100 block of Atlantic Avenue. At about 9 p.m., the two friends grabbed their first drink; Marsh had a beer and Lynch had a Tequila Sunrise.

It was a busy night at the Oceanfront, Marsh said. The crowds were big, and a lot of people were milling about.

They left The Boxx soon after their first drink and split with the women they were talking to. Lynch and Marsh bounced around, met some other women and made their way back to The Boxx, Marsh said. They had their second drink around 11 p.m. and took another video together at 11:11 p.m., which shows both drinking Tequila Sunrises as Lynch raises his cup toward the phone.

The two left The Boxx about 11:30 p.m., Marsh said. Up until then, it was a normal-as-can-be trip to the Oceanfront. A little bit of drinking, trying to pick up women and seeing a host of friends.

“It was looking like a hot summer day,” he said.

But when they stepped outside, everything changed.

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‘Five gunshots’

“I didn’t see anything but yellow tape, police cars, fire trucks,” Marsh said.

They realized a shooting just happened and decided to leave, but Lynch kept stopping and talking to everyone he knew, Marsh said.

“He got to stop. Talk. Stop. Talk. Stop. Talk,” Marsh said. “I understood, but it was still time to go.”

Eventually, Lynch had to use the restroom, and he peeled off to a somewhat secluded area to pee. They started walking back to Marsh’s car.

But as they walked, they heard about 25 gunshots going off about a block away, Marsh said. He said he didn’t see the flashes go off, but saw the smoke rising.

They stalled for a couple minutes, waiting until it was calm. They saw officers running toward the gunshots.

When they started walking again, Marsh said he was looking directly at Lynch in front of him. There was parking lot lighting nearby that made him easy to see. Marsh said he believes Lynch was walking with his hands in his pocket, something Lynch had been doing all night after Marsh told him that his clothes were looking a little big on him.

Marsh felt safe, with so many police nearby, he said.

Suddenly, five more gunshots. Much closer this time.

One bullet struck Lynch in the side of his left leg, Marsh said. The force of the gunshot spun him around.

“D, I’m shot,” Lynch said, to the best of Marsh’s recollection.

Marsh looked to his left and saw Simmons — whom he knows as ‘D’ — pointing a gun at Lynch, about seven yards away.

Marsh and Simmons both worked at fast-food restaurants off General Booth Boulevard in 2014 and 2015 and would grab food together every Friday and Saturday, he said.

Simmons had actually texted Marsh a couple weeks earlier, suggesting that they get together, after the two ran into each other at the Oceanfront.

Neither Simmons nor any other officers said anything to Lynch or Marsh before that first gunshot, Marsh said.

But Simmons wasn’t done. He fired again. This one hit Lynch in the chest. The giant of a man toppled over, falling into some nearby bushes.

Simmons came closer to Marsh, who told him, “You shot Donovon.”

Simmons didn’t say anything in response, Marsh said. “He couldn’t look me in my eyes.”

Neither Marsh nor Lynch had their guns out at all that night. Marsh had a gun in a holster that no one could see.

LaChrisha Miller, a South Carolina woman who was in town for her daughters’ dance competition, said she saw two police officers and other first responders pick up Lynch and move him down 20th street, closer to where she was. Miller said it did not look like they were rendering aid and they eventually put a white sheet over Lynch’s body.

Marsh couldn’t get closer to his friend, so he took off for the hospital, where an officer told him Lynch was being taken to. On the way, he called Donovon’s father.

Wayne Lynch had already heard the news from another of his son’s friends.

He asked Marsh what happened, more hoping it wasn’t true. But Marsh confirmed it: Donovon had been shot.

Donovon Lynch was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m., and Marsh, still driving to the hospital, wouldn’t hear the news for hours. Neither would Wayne.

For Marsh, the night’s turn, from carefree to tragedy, didn’t sink in — it didn’t feel real — until 2 a.m. He began to wonder if Lynch was still alive.

For most of that early morning, Marsh sat in the car outside the hospital. The hospital staff told him to wait outside.

At 5:30 a.m., he learned that Lynch had died and answered some questions from a police detective. He cried for 20 minutes, and went to his parent’s home at the Oceanfront, the whole time wondering why Lynch had to die.

“We were just on our way home,” Marsh asked. “What did he do for this to happen?”

The answer, Marsh said, is nothing. Lynch did nothing wrong.

Peter Coutu, 757-222-5124, peter.coutu@pilotonline.com