In December 1984 Chesapeake lost a young mother and her child in a case that remains unsolved. Lisa Rene Nixon Sorrell, 22, was found dead on December 10, 1984, inside her burgundy Honda with six gunshot wounds to the head. Her three-year-old daughter Shanta was discovered in the trunk; the child had died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Investigators early on focused suspicion on Lisa’s husband, Timothy Sorrell. He had purchased a large life insurance policy on his wife and daughter about two weeks before the deaths, his alibi reportedly changed during the probe, and detectives described his reaction to being told of the deaths as suspicious. No arrests have ever been made and the Chesapeake Police Department lists the case as a cold, unsolved double homicide.

Graphic photos from the Sorrell killings were later shown during the capital murder sentencing of an unrelated defendant, a move the defense called highly prejudicial. Who was responsible for Lisa and Shanta’s deaths remains unknown. If anyone knew Lisa, Shanta, their movements in December 1984, or has information about Timothy Sorrell’s actions that month, please come forward.