LYNCHBURG, Va. – More than 12 hours since the initial call for shots fired. Lynchburg police investigators and crime scene tape was still wrapped around homes on Madison Street early this morning.
"It had really gotten quite rough. All day, all night, long up and down the street. It goes through that alley back there. Everybody hangs out in the back," said a neighbor who doesn't want to be identified.
He tells 10 News he felt something bad was going to happen for a long time.
Magdala Louissaint said, "What do you think is happening in that alley?" I think most of it is drug-related. Because that's all over here. All these young timers, that's all they're doing. Selling them drugs all time of day, all time of night."
The gentleman says, he's never called police to report any suspicious activity but he says their landlord has.
Lynchburg police arrested and charged Rodney Spinner, 18, with second-degree murder. They say, they received a call after 6 on Monday night for shots fired. When they arrived they found Jamale Pannell, 33, lying on the ground. Medics were called to assist, but he died on the scene. Patrol officers and a K-9 unit found Spinner shortly after. This is the third homicide in the city this year.
On the city's crime tracker map, in the last month, within half a mile from where police found Pannell's body last night, there have been two aggravated assaults and two thefts.
"I'm gonna have to find me another place. I'm just fed up with it, said the anonymous man. Magdala Louisaint asked, "You said you can't even sit on your porch?" He said, "No a lot of times it really gets rough just sitting on the porch.
Rodney Spinner II preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 26.
Community members are holding a walk on Friday. It will begin at the crime scene on Madison Street and end at the police station. Organizers say community members will pray, and ask police any questions they may have about this recent homicide and others.