John Jefferson
Inset: Dontae Lashaun Drumgold (Alexandria Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Virginia where Drumgold shot and killed his roommate in 2022 (Google Maps).
A 29-year-old man in Virginia will spend decades behind bars for executing his roommate as they were being evicted for not paying rent after authorities found, among other things, journal entries indicating he fantasized about fatally shooting someone.
A state judge on Thursday ordered Dontae Lashaun Drumgold to serve a sentence of 53 years in a state correctional facility for the slaying of 25-year-old Elijah Williams, records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Drumgold in May was convicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
“The lengthy sentence in this sentence is appropriate, given the defendant’s premeditation and planning,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said in a statement. “My thoughts go out to the victim’s family, who lost a loved one to violence over a mere dispute over rent.
According to a news release from the Alexandria Police Department, officers at about 6:50 a.m. on March 23, 2022, responded to a residential apartment building on Raleigh Avenue in regard to a reported shooting. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found an adult male — later identified as Williams — just outside the building suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head with a small caliber bullet and the manner of death was determined to be a homicide.
Drumgold was arrested about a month later and indicted by a grand jury on the murder and firearm charges.
The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney said that investigators found evidence showing that Drumgold was upset about his living situation and knew when and where to find Williams outside of their apartment, local news outlet Alexandria Now reported.
“Text messages located on the defendant’s phone indicated that in the days leading up to the murder he was angry and wanted out of the lease,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “The evidence showed that the defendant, who was familiar with Williams’ regular work schedule, waited outside the building the morning of March 23rd and shot Williams as Williams was leaving for work.”
Texts between the roommates reportedly showed that Williams was refusing to cover Drumgold’s half of the rent and the two were subject to eviction proceedings if they didn’t come up with the money by March 23, 2022, the same day Williams was killed.
Police said that after Williams’ death, Drumgold expressed frustration that he was still on the hook to pay his half of the rent.
During trial, prosecutors also entered Drumgold’s personal journal into evidence, which reportedly contained some disturbing entries, including his wish to kill someone by shooting them in the head.
“Are they playing with your time or happiness? There are multiple ways to solve these issues,” one entry admitted at trial read. “I prefer a bullet to the head, it typically does the trick, but see, the game is only fun if you don’t get caught. Understand getting caught is a life sentence, but getting away is an entirely different feeling.”
Upon Drumgold’s release, he will have to serve five years of probation.
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