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Newport News woman pleads for answers in boyfriend’s murder

Posted at 7:00 PM, Mar 11, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-12 06:27:52-04

Newport News, Va. - “I say I`m single but my heart is always taken.”

It's been five months, but Renee Simmons says her heart is still with her boyfriend who was killed inside his Newport News home in October.

She carries him with her, wearing the necklace he wore when he died.

“It`s just like a nightmare you wish you could wake up from type of thing,” she says. “It`s horrible.”

It's a nightmare she lives every single day since 21-year-old Brandon Dudley was gunned down in his living room on 30th Street.

Five months later, police have no leads. For Simmons, the pain is not going away.

“I`m depressed,” she says. “And it`s hard when you try to smile so everyone can know she`s OK, but deep down you`re really not OK. It really hurts you.”

What hurts the most, Simmons says, is not having answers from police.

Initially, investigators said Dudley heard someone in the alley next to the house; when he looked outside his window that's when he was shot.

However, Simmons believes this was no accident. She says her boyfriend was a target.

“Whoever did it put the gun inside the house to shoot,” she says. “That wasn`t a random shooting.”

Detectives say they have no new information but continue to investigate.

Simmons wonders with so many killed in Newport News, how will police get to solving Dudley’s case?

Police say so far this year there have been eight homicides, which is double the number from the same time last year.

“I understand there`s a lot going on but it just makes you wonder like will you get any type of justice for him,” Simmons says.

If you have any information, you can take action and stay anonymous by calling the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

Related: 

Girlfriend of murdered Newport News man: ‘What is his son going to do?’