On the evening of Thursday, April 17, 1997, gunfire rang out in the 5500 block of Diamond Springs Road in Virginia Beach. Police responding to multiple reports found 39-year-old Rudolph Stewart Jr lying in a driveway with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene and an autopsy at the State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide from the gunshot wounds.

Stewart was a longtime Virginia Beach resident, employed by the city’s landscaping department for 17 years and a member of Morning Star Baptist Church. Witnesses reported seeing a blue Toyota speed away from the area, heading east on Aurora Drive, but that lead did not yield an arrest. The case remains active and unsolved.

Anyone who knew Stewart, saw the blue Toyota that evening, or has information about this shooting is asked to contact the Virginia Beach Police Department.