PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- The family of Dion Loften, Jr., the one-year-old boy shot and killed during an attempted robbery in Portsmouth Saturday night, does not understand what prompted the violence at the Maple Avenue home.
"My daughter called me and said that my grandson had gotten shot in the face, so I immediately came here," grandmother Tonia Hayes said. "It was unwarranted, they just burst into the house."
Police charged Anthony D. Holley, 18, and Jerry Atkinson,, 18, both of Portsmouth, with first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding, attempted robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Hayes said her daughter, who was at the home when her son and friend were shot, did not know the suspects.
"I don’t know why they did it, there was no reason, there was no explanation for it, I don’t know why but there needs to be justice for my one-year-old grandson," Hayes said. "He was so energetic, he was a happy baby, he was a beautiful baby."
The woman hurt in the shooting suffered a serious injuries, but was expected to survive.
Holley and Atkinson were due in court Monday.
