Diane M. Dawson, 72, died after being shot at her home on Apple Jack Circle in Linden, Virginia on July 18, 2024. Emergency crews found her in a bedroom with a critical gunshot wound to her side or back; she was taken to Warren Memorial Hospital and later airlifted to Fairfax Inova Hospital, where she died shortly after arrival at the trauma center.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office investigation led to the arrest of her husband, 74-year-old Claude H. Dawson Jr. He was charged and initially held without bond; the criminal complaint reports he told investigators the gun discharged while he was attempting to unload it, saying he picked up a loaded firearm and pointed it in her direction to unload it. At a September hearing he was granted a $75,000 secured bond; a preliminary hearing was set for December 19 in Warren County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court after a continuance.

What details might help clarify how the shooting occurred, or who else could have information about that day?