On the evening of April 4, 2025, 20-year-old Joshua Rice was shot while walking home on Osprey Street in the Aragona neighborhood of Virginia Beach. He was walking to his pregnant fiancée when he was struck by gunfire and died at the scene. Stray bullets also hit nearby homes and cars, alarming residents.

Joshua’s family remembered him as bright, funny and kind; he had been involved in wrestling and poetry and was looking forward to the birth of his daughter, Tiana Lynae Rice. The Virginia Beach Police Department investigated the shooting and arrested five people in connection with the case. Nineteen-year-old Ekue Dossekpli and 21-year-old Keandre Willie were charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony; Dossekpli faced an additional unlawful concealed carry charge. Eighteen-year-old Nasir Carter and 21-year-old Taejohn Stewart were later charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and 29-year-old Shaquita West was charged with concealing or destroying physical evidence related to a felony.

Joshua’s mother, Sharon Rice, urged young adults to reflect on the consequences of gun violence. If anyone in the Aragona neighborhood that night saw something or has information about the shooting, please come forward.