Sherman Lane’s teenage daughter was on the ground and being assaulted by four girls when he rushed to her side and pushed away the attackers, according to court documents.
Lane and his daughter went into their apartment afterwards with two of the daughter’s friends.
It was there two men kicked in a door and killed Lane in front of his daughter.
“Why’d you hit my girl?” one of the men asked before pulling out a gun and shooting Lane in the stomach, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by police. Lane died a short time later.
Ditron Thigpen, 28, stands charged with second-degree murder, using a gun to commit a felony and being a convicted felon with a gun. Following a preliminary hearing Thursday, District Judge Sandra Menago ordered that his case be sent to a grand jury.
According to court documents and testimony, the shooting occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 5, 2019 in the Atlantis Apartments, a sprawling complex off South Birdneck Road.
A 17-year-old girl who is friends with Lane’s daughter testified she was frightened after fleeing the scene of the original attack and entering the apartment. She said they heard people coming up the stairs and she went to lock the apartment door only to see a man kick it in moments later.
Lane, 40, had come out of his bedroom by then and was walking toward the door when two men came in, she said. The girl identified Thigpen as the shooter.
Thigpen was in a relationship with one of the girls who attacked Lane’s daughter, police said in the affidavit.
In the days after the shooting, Lane was described by a cousin as a family-oriented man who had several children. He was raising his teenage daughter by himself after her mother died of cancer, the cousin said, and the girl considered him to be her hero.
In 2016, Lane spoke to Virginia Beach police and a reporter from The Virginian-Pilot during a community survey event the police department’s 2nd precinct held at the Atlantis Apartments.
Lane told police he’d recently moved there and frequently heard gunshots. He thanked the officers for coming out, and encouraged them to keep a strong presence in the neighborhood.
Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
