Kevin Dickerson

Kevin L. Dickerson Jr., known affectionately to his family and friends as “Lil Bill,” was a 20-year-old father from Richmond, Virginia. Born on January 7, 1993, he was a young man with a family who loved him deeply. He is survived by his daughter, Kemya Dickerson; his mother, Felicia Wimbish; his father, Kevin Dickerson Sr.; a sister, Jaelecia Wimbish; and a brother, Alphonso Wimbish. His obituary noted a wide circle of other relatives and friends who mourned his sudden passing. He was a member of the community on the city’s Southside, with a last known address on the 4000 block of Midlothian Turnpike.

The night of Wednesday, December 11, 2013, brought sudden violence to the Northside neighborhood of Highland Park in Richmond. At approximately 9:45 p.m., a burst of gunfire erupted in the 2400 block of Third Avenue, a residential street lined with homes. When Richmond Police officers responded to the scene, they discovered two men suffering from gunshot wounds. One of the victims was Kevin Dickerson Jr. Both he and the second man, who was never publicly identified, had sustained life-threatening injuries.

Emergency services rushed both victims to VCU Medical Center for urgent care. Despite the efforts of the hospital's medical staff, Kevin’s injuries proved to be too severe. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, just a few weeks before what would have been his 21st birthday. The shooting marked another instance of gun violence in a city that would record dozens of homicides that year, leaving another family to grapple with a profound and unexpected loss.

In the immediate aftermath, the Richmond Police Department began an inquiry, but their public statements introduced a layer of ambiguity that has defined the case ever since. While officials confirmed Kevin's death resulted from the shooting, they announced they were conducting a "death investigation" rather than a homicide investigation. This classification is unusual in cases of fatal shootings. Authorities did not provide any public rationale for this decision, nor did they elaborate on the specific circumstances that distinguished this case from a homicide. This left Kevin's family and the wider community with a painful and unresolved set of questions about what truly happened that night on Third Avenue.

The investigation has yielded little public information in the years since Kevin's death. No details about a possible motive for the shooting have ever been released. Police have not announced any suspects or persons of interest, and no arrests have been made in connection with the incident. The identity and condition of the second man who was shot alongside Kevin were never made public, leaving his role in the event and his potential as a witness unknown. The silence from law enforcement has meant that the official narrative of that night remains frustratingly incomplete.

Family and friends gathered to honor Kevin's memory at a funeral service held at the Joseph Jenkins Jr. Funeral Home on Grayland Avenue. The service, led by Reverend Ed Jones, provided a space for loved ones to grieve for the young father who was taken from them so violently. The interment was held privately.

More than a decade later, the case of Kevin Dickerson Jr.'s death remains officially unresolved. The lack of progress and the unusual classification of the investigation have left a lingering sense of uncertainty. As of the last available reports, there have been no new leads or updates from the Richmond Police Department. The file remains open, but the path to justice for Kevin and his family is still unclear, shadowed by the unanswered questions of that cold December evening.