HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A man is in custody tonight after a Christmas night shooting on Engleside Court in Henrico that left one juvenile dead, marking the sixth juvenile shooting death in the county this year.
According to Henrico Police, 20-year-old Kamonte Ali Noble has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection to the Christmas Day homicide. Noble is facing charges for both the homicide of the unidentified juvenile victim as well as a second incident that police were alerted to after arriving on the scene. He is being held without bond.
According to the Henrico Police Department, there has been a total of 28 homicides in the county so far this year. However, the Christmas night shooting on Engleside Court moves the needle on the number of juvenile deaths, bringing that total to seven in 2022. Six of those deaths were a result of gun violence. One was a result of asphyxiation.
“One child killed is too many,” Karina Bolster from the Henrico Police public affairs office said. “And I think that most of the community would agree with that as well.”
Henrico Police’s sentiment is echoed by community members — enough is enough.
“My son told me ‘Ma, this like the sixth student that’s passed away at my school… on Christmas,’” one concerned citizen said. She didn’t want to be identified due to fear of violence in the neighborhood. “I want a stop to violence all over Richmond. Not just here. Richmond period.”
The first juvenile shooting death this year came on April 9, when Henrico police were called to the 1900 block of Glenwilton Drive for a juvenile involved shooting in which the suspect was also a juvenile. The other juvenile-involved homicides this year took place on June 10, June 22, Nov. 9, Dec. 13 and the latest Christmas night shooting.
Police believe all these incidents were isolated because they happened across the county, but a handful of those homicides happened on East Laburnum. The Saint Luke’s Apartment complex in Henrico was the scene of the last juvenile homicide, and the area has been on the police’s radar for some time.
“While we have seen a number of incidents occur here in the St. Luke’s community and others along East Laburnum, our officers canvas and patrol all areas on a daily basis,” Bolster said. “There is a proactive effort to try to curb violence in Henrico County, specifically in the area of East Laburnum Avenue. This is really going to take not only police involvement but community involvement as well.”
Going forward, Henrico Police say they need help from the community to curb violence, and the department wants to make that connection with community members more positive.
“We are focused on improving our relationship with our community members. Especially over the last few years there been more of a focus on that from our community members wanting answers from our division,” Bolster said. “That is something we strive to meet. We want to be as transparent as possible with the people we serve. It’s about building the trust amongst our officers and our community.”
