On February 27, 2016, 29-year-old Crystal Hamilton was shot and killed inside her Woodbridge, Virginia, home after a domestic dispute with her husband, Army staff sergeant Ronald Hamilton. The argument reportedly began when Crystal said she planned to go out with friends; it escalated, Ronald threw her against a wall, and Crystal called 911. Their 11-year-old son was in the house and later wrote a statement describing hearing gunshots and then his mother falling silent.

When officers responded, Ronald Hamilton opened fire with a military-style rifle, killing Officer Ashley Guindon, who was on her first shift, and wounding two other officers, Jesse Hempen and David McKeown. Ronald Hamilton surrendered and was charged with two counts of capital murder and additional offenses. Prosecutors portrayed him as jealous and controlling while the defense argued he had just snapped and the killings were not premeditated. A jury found him guilty of capital murder in September 2018; they unanimously imposed life for Officer Guindon’s death but were deadlocked on the sentence for Crystal’s murder, leaving Ronald Hamilton with life without parole.

Does anyone have information about Crystal’s life in Woodbridge or her family that could shed light on her last days?