'Bad Girls Club' Star Deshayla Harris Identified As One Of The Virginia Beach Shooting Victims

Deshayla Harris, who starred in the popular Oxygen reality series "Bad Girls Club," was one of two people killed in a string of shooting incidents late Friday night in Virginia beach.

The 29-year-old Harris — who starred in season 17 of the show — had been a bystander at the second of three shootings that evening, which took place in the 300 block of 19^th Street, according to a statement from the Virginia Beach Police Department.

Just before she was killed, Harris had posted a video of herself out in downtown Norfolk on Instagram, apparently enjoying the night out.

“I’m only doing s--- that’s gonna make me elevate…!!,” she wrote in her final post.  

Key Hamilton, another member of the “Bad Girls Club” season 17, wrote a tribute to Harris on Instagram after her death had been announced, writing “Thank you for always pushing me and supporting me no matter where we were in our friendship.”

Hamilton said she had talked to Harris just three days before.

Two people died and eight others were injured by gunfire Friday night in the coastal Virginia city, according to CNN. 

The violence began at the intersection of Atlantic Ave. and 20^th street. Chief Paul Neudigate said in a press conference Saturday that seven people were shot at the intersection after an argument broke out. The argument led to a physical fight “that at some point escalated into gunfire,” Neudigate said.

A Virginia Beach police officer happened to be at the intersection at the time and witnessed the shooting.

“He was able to identify one of the shooters, chase that individual down and take him into custody,” Neudigate said.

Police arrested Ahmon Jahree Adams, 22; Nyquez Tyyon Baker, 18; and Devon Maurice Dorsey Jr. in connection with that shooting. All three are facing seven counts of felonious assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and reckless handling of a firearm.

Neudigate referred to the incident as “extremely troubling.”

“We had individuals in our community when a uniformed officer is there that chose to engage in gunfire, completely disregarding the safety of our citizens and our residents who were out at that time,” he said.

The second shooting occurred sometime later on 19^th street, killing Harris, police said. Neudigate said the incident remains under investigation and no arrests have been made.

“We do believe that she truly is, at this point in time, an innocent victim that was probably struck by stray gunfire,” he said.

In the third incident, a Virginia Beach Police officer shot and killed 25-year-old Donovan W. Lynch, 25, in the 300 block of 20^th Street.

Neudigate said the officer involved had been wearing a body camera, but for “unknown reasons” it had not been activated at the time of the shooting. Police said a firearm was “recovered near the vicinity” where the shooting occurred.

In a statement to WAVY, Lynch’s father, Wayne Lynch called his slain son a “father’s dream.” He described him as a scholar, athlete and entrepreneur.

The shooting has sparked outrage from the community who have questioned why the officer’s body camera was off at the time of the shooting, but Neudigate said it was too early in the investigation to be able to provide answers.

“Unfortunately for us, we don’t have a whole lot of answers. We’d like to provide the community with answers. At this point we do not have them,” he said.

While all three incidents were “connected by time and geography,” Neudigate said “they appear to be independent, separate incidents.”  

Harris' death is the latest tragedy to befall former "Bad Girls Club" cast members. Stars Whitney Collings, from season 3, and Demitra "Mimi" Roche, from season 8, died last year.