On Tuesday night, a woman was found with a fatal gunshot wound in the 2100 block of Pearl Street in Portsmouth, Virginia.
The victim was identified as 27-year-old Auriel McLaurin. The suspect was not on the scene when officers arrived, but investigators soon identified Ryan Darel Winfield, 27, as a person of interest and a BOLO was sent out.
Winfield turned himself in on Thursday. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm, shooting into an occupied dwelling and shooting in commission of a felony.
He is being held at the Portsmouth City Jail.
“I don’t understand people… How they can do such a terrible thing and keep on living like it’s OK?” Shana Burnell, McLaurin’s friend, told WAVY. “That’s disrespectful. That person, to even want to take such a sweet soul, it doesn’t matter what goes on or what caused it. We don’t know, but it’s nothing a simple conversation couldn’t have solved,” Burnell said.
Burnell also revealed that McLaurin was a mother to several children. “She was a good mom. She took care of them, obviously. Her kids were her main priority, her main responsibility,” she said.