LaQuita Brown: A Tribute to the Virginia Beach Victim

In an unimaginable act of violence, 12 lives were stolen in a mass shooting in Virginia Beach Friday May 31. Family, friends, colleagues, the community, indeed the world, are grieving the loss.

Those who knew and loved LaQuita Brown are at once suffering but honoring and celebrating her life.

“Sixteen hours ago, the lives of 12 people were cut short by a senseless, incomprehensible act of violence,” Virginia Beach City Manager Dave Hansen said Saturday morning.

“All but one of the 12 victims were employees of the city of Virginia Beach. I have worked with most of them for many years. We want you to know who they were so in the days and weeks to come you will learn what they meant to all of us, to their families, to their friends and to their coworkers,” Hansen said. “They leave a void that we will never be able to fill.”

LaQuita Brown, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was one of those whose life was stolen Friday afternoon while she was at work, doing her job, as she’s done for nearly five years. Brown worked for the city’s public works department as a right-of-way agent

LaQuita loved football and was a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and the Florida State University Seminoles. She enjoyed travel and her friends. She’s posted images on Facebook of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and images of Brooklyn, New York and New York City, her “old stomping grounds.” She also shared many photos of her and her girlfriends, the “sensational six.” Her cousin wrote that LaQuita traveled abroad to minister.

Then-interim director Mark A. Johnson said of the department and its employees, “I told someone several years ago that I believed Public Works was the heart that keeps the city beating. I still believe that. There aren’t many things that go on in this city that aren’t touched by Public Works in some way or fashion. I don’t believe that will ever change, and as I continue to work and learn in this position, I know that this department is full of people who are true professionals and will make me smarter and make our city better.”

Here’s what you need to know:

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LaQuita is Being Remembered & Mourned by Family & Friends as a Light in Their Lives

Sinda R. Price, a close friend who describes Brown as a sister, wrote, “It still doesn’t feel real. I can’t believe she’s gone…. She was one of those people who just lit up a room. Every room… And now that light is gone, and my heart can’t stop hurting.”

Price continued: “Rev 21:4 “And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

We will see you soon, big sis. ❤ LaQuita Brown.”

LaQuita’s cousin Kimberlita Casper said her heart was broken.

“I am heartbroken. My cousin’s life was taken from her today. ? I know that Jehovah has the last say and that brings me comfort but I still have a heaviness in my chest right now. My heart goes out to all families impacted by the mass shooting today in Virginia Beach.”

“Our conversation this particular day will never be forgotten. She was sharing her experience from the preaching work and going abroad and you could see the true joy she had. And we were at my father’s (her uncle’s) funeral and we were smiling, laughing and so happy because we know what God promises in just a little while longer if we give our best and do not tire out. #hewillcall”

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Tragically, Here Are the Other Victims of the Mass Shooting, All But 1 Were City Employees

Tara Welch Gallager, Virginia Beach

Mary Louise Gayle, Virginia Beach

Alexander Mikhail Gusev, Virginia Beach

Katherine A. Nixon, Virginia Beach

Richard H. Nettleton, Norfolk

Christopher Kelly Rapp, Powhatan

Ryan Keith Cox, Virginia Beach

Joshua A. Hardy, Virginia Beach

Michelle “Missy” Langer, Virginia Beach

Robert “Bobby” Williams, Chesapeake

Herbert “Bert” Snelling, Virginia Beach