RICHMOND, Va. β Donna Barnes was killed in a drive-by shooting in a South Richmond parking lot 32 years ago Thursday. Her family is still looking for answers.
"I remember that her and my father had recently broken up and she wasn't responding well to that," said Crystal Blake, Barnes' daughter. "She needed money quickly so she became a bartender and started living the night life. I think she was familiar with the Southside prior to being with my father so naturally, she went back to what she knew."
That familiarity would prove deadly.
On November 13, 1993, Barnes, 29, was shot and killed in the parking lot of CD's restaurant in the 3000 block of Broad Rock Boulevard. Police believe it was likely a drive-by shooting.
"She was shot in the parking lot of that restaurant. The original case, the detectives did develop some suspects and there are people of interest we'd still like to talk to about the case," said Detective Sergeant George Wade.
The shooting occurred after the bar closed. Barnes and her friends were in the back parking lot when someone shot through a fence opening, hitting her in the arm. The bullet went through her chest and killed her.
The primary person detectives would like to discuss that night with now lives hundreds of miles away in the southeast.
"If we had somebody that came forward and said hey, I was out there, I saw what happened and I know he's the main suspect or she's the main suspect, then that's a lot more beneficial to us, kind of greases the gears a little bit more since you have something new," Wade said.
Heating up this 32-year-old cold case and giving the Barnes family closure rests on the shoulders and conscience of those who were with her that night.
"We've been in grief for 30 years," Blake said.
"My biggest hope would have been to have her with me and grow old together," said Linda Kirsch, Barnes' sister.
What troubles Blake most is that her memories of her mother are fading.
"What lit a fire is I am starting to not remember her. I can't remember her voice anymore," she said. "I have a picture to look at, but I can't really remember her anymore."
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