On April 24, 1995, during rush-hour on the Downtown Tunnel between Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia, 22-year-old Garner D. Efraim, a Black male, was shot and killed while driving a dark green 1992 Lexus. His car stopped in the tunnel and dozens of drivers witnessed the immediate aftermath. First responders found Efraim deceased in the driver’s seat from a single fatal gunshot wound to the chest.

Two other men who had been riding with him ran from the vehicle and fled into Portsmouth; one of those men was found dead a few days later with a gunshot wound to the face reportedly suffered during the tunnel incident. Investigators recovered images of the two fleeing suspects from eleven tunnel cameras, but the footage was poor. A week after the slaying, police arrested 19-year-old Shawnta Ward on charges including capital murder, armed robbery, and abduction, but prosecutors dismissed the case when a key witness did not appear and the weapon was never recovered. The murder remains unsolved and is now a cold case with investigators seeking new information.

Anyone who knew Garner or has information about the shooting is asked to come forward.