YORK COUNTY, Va. — The case against five people accused of murdering a woman in York County isn't going away, despite all charges being withdrawn in state court on Tuesday.
That's the word from York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery, who on Wednesday said the case was instead moving to the federal level.
All five suspects were accused of murdering 25-year-old Ty'osha Mitchell on May 6, after she allegedly tried to leave a gang they were all a part of, according to law enforcement.
Through the course of the investigation, deputies arrested five suspects for Mitchell's death. But earlier this month charges were nolle pros for one of the suspects, and then during a court hearing on Tuesday, the same happened with the remaining four suspects.
"Nolle pros" is a legal action by which prosecutors indicate on record that they will no longer prosecute a pending criminal charge against a defendant. It's similar to a dismissal of the charges, except that the charges can be reinstated by prosecutors at a later time.
On Wednesday, Sheriff Montgomery said the decision to withdraw the charges was to allow the case to move to federal court.
Montgomery said that two of the suspects, Acacia Jackson and Donnisha Goodman, have already been indicted on federal charges of kidnapping involving death. He added that two other suspects, Jayquan Jones and Hezekiah Carney, are also in federal custody and will face charges.
The fifth suspect, Jamica Langley, is being transported to Richmond to serve time for a separate homicide that she was convicted of in 2020.
"None of these individuals are going to be released," Montgomery said. "They are all in either federal or state custody and going forward, at least four of them ... will be facing federal charges for the death of Ty'osha Tanique Mitchell."