Authorities in Virginia have charged an 11-year-old boy with robbery after he allegedly carjacked a DoorDash driver at gunpoint. According to Scripps News Richmond, the incident occurred in the wee hours of November 30 outside an apartment complex in South Richmond.
The victim, identified as 40-year-old Deon Smith, was making a delivery for DoorDash when she encountered the 11-year-old and an 18-year-old accomplice.
“When I was going inside I saw two kids outside,” Smith recalled. “The little one approached me. I was thinking he was asking for money or something but little did I know he was pointing a gun at me asking for my keys.”
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Smith said she initially tried to diffuse the situation. “When he told me that he was going to shoot me I was like, ‘Are you serious? You want to kill somebody at your age,'” said Smith. “I was asking where is your mom and why are you out here this time of night.”
The 18-year-old suspect, identified as Jahlia Henley, subsequently entered Smith’s car and told the 11-year-old to get in. “He was telling me to get in the car, but I refused to and so they got in the car and left,” Smith said.
Smith said she got to know her car had been involved in a crash an hour after she reported the incident to the police. “I had just finished paying for my car in September,” she said. “In two months it was taken away from me and totaled.”
The 11-year-old and Henley sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the crash and received treatment at a hospital. “The suspects fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle which was later located in Henrico County, crashed in a rural area,” a Richmond Police spokesperson told Scripps News Richmond.
“The two juvenile suspects inside the vehicle at the time of the crash were transported to local hospitals. They were released without any significant injuries and charged with robbery.”
Smith, who is a home health nurse, is now unable to perform her regular work tasks because she is currently without a car. A GoFundMe has since been set up to help raise funds for Smith and her daughter.
