HAMPTON, Va. — A woman who taught at Kecoughtan High School is dead and a man has life-threatening injuries following what Hampton police believe is a domestic shooting Sunday night.
Public Safety Communications received a call reporting a gunshot victim inside a home on Wendell Drive around 7:45 p.m.
When officers arrived they found 45-year-old Joi Kimitra Brown inside suffering from a gunshot wound and she was pronounced dead on the scene.
Officers also found a man suffering from "an unknown injury", that officers couldn't identify at the time, in the same home. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for a life-threatening injury.
Police say the incident appears to be domestic-related and the investigation is ongoing.
Brown had been with Hampton City Schools since 2019, all at Kecoughtan High as a health and physical education teacher.
"Joi Brown has been a valued member of the Kecoughtan High School team," Executive Principal Dr. Violet Whiteman wrote in a statement. "She has touched countless lives and has been loved by her students, their families, and our staff. We will cherish her memory and the students and staff will miss her greatly."
Jermar James is the couple’s neighbor. He said walked over to check on them, Sunday night after family friends hadn’t heard from them all day. James said he found the front door, unlocked.
James said the injured man appeared to have scratches and a wound on his head. James said he called 911 after he found Brown upstairs, dead. He called the discovery tragic.
“He only said two words to me. He just said, ‘What’s up, bro?’ And I asked him, ‘Where’s Joi at?’ He told me, ‘Downstairs.’ I didn’t see her downstairs and that’s when I went up the stairs and saw her in the bedroom," James said. “His mind just wasn’t there. It was almost like he was in a zombie state. Just gone.”
James said he’s known the couple for three years.
“We go out, hang out, cookouts; We have family events where they invite us to their house, we invite them to our house," James said.
He described Brown as a hardworking career woman who loved to laugh and spend time with her loved ones, including a young daughter.
“She had a lot of things going for her. She was a school teacher, she got into real estate," James said. "She was ambitious. If she set a goal, she would go for it and she would take it straight on.”
If you have information that can assist police they ask you to contact the Hampton Police Division at 757–727–6111 or the Crime Line at 1–888-562-5887. Tipsters can also send an anonymous tip form at P3Tips.com. Crime Line callers remain anonymous and never appear in court. If a Crime Line tip results in an arrest, the caller may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1500.00.