NORFOLK, Va. — The murder of Chris Cummings and the attempted murder of his former roommate, Jake Carey, haunted their friends and families for a decade.
A search warrant in Norfolk General District Court from June 2011 says when police arrived to 867 West 42nd Street the night of the incident, they found Cummings's roommate, Jake Carey, lying in the driveway suffering gunshot wounds.
Police wrote that someone nearby tried to help Carey until medical units arrived.
The search warrant went on to say police laid out six photos of possible suspects in the case for a witness to look over, to see if that witness could identify anyone. The witness then pointed to the picture of Ahmad Watson, but police did not arrest Watson that night.
Ten years later, Carey and family members of Cummings said they feel relieved to know detectives are making moves in the investigation with the charges brought against four men believed to be involved in the case.
Kwaume Edwards, 32, Javon Doyle, 31, Ahmad Watson, 30, and Rashad Dooley, 28, all face several charges including first-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder.
Police said Cummings, the nephew of late U.S. Congressman and civil rights activist Elijah Cummings, was attacked by four men during a burglary.
Court records of the charges accuse the men of breaking in and trying to steal things from a home along West 42nd Street on June 10, 2011. Documents then accuse them of shooting and killing Cummings, and then trying to kill Carey.
Doyle and Dooley both appeared in Norfolk General District Court Tuesday morning. Dooley's mother, grandmother, sister and fiancée showed up in support of him.
Judge Hill appointed both of them criminal defense attorneys in their hearings.
Judge Hill said Edwards was not appearing in court yet because he is currently serving a sentence at Buckingham County Correctional Facility on a different murder charge.
That leaves Watson, who police say was arrested in Baltimore, Maryland, and is waiting to be extradited to Norfolk.
The home on West 42nd Street sits quietly ten years later, but for Carey, it's a place that reminds him of the day he lost his best friend.
“I think it’s crazy people even tried to break into someone’s house to kill them,” said Carey. "No one deserves to die in their home like that."
Carey was also hurt during the attack and had life-threatening injuries, but survived. Now, those wounds are healed, but his emotional scars remain. He said he has mixed emotions about the arrests of the men.
"It's been 10 years for us and it feels like...this is starting all over," said Carey. "It kind of brings it back to the beginning of when it all happened. I feel a little bit better now that I've been talking to a lot of family and friends about it."
When asked if he recognized any of the men facing charges in the case, Carey said he didn't recall because it was hard to recognize the men the day it happened.
Edwards and Watson are expected to appear in court on another date.