NEWPORT NEWS, Va.— A family continues to grieve on the anniversary of their loved ones' death after a deadly double homicide inside a Newport News 7-Eleven.
On June 15, 2022, police were called to a 7-Eleven off Kiln Creek Parkway in Newport News. It was a report about suspicious activity.
When police got to the scene, two men—employees—were dead inside the store.
Police are still searching for answers in the case, and so are police.
It's a day members of the community will never forget.
"Pulling into the parking lot you do remember what happened," said Kevin Becker, of Newport News. "It sometimes feels like there's a little bit of a heightened sense of awareness."
"I can't even bring myself to go inside the 7-Eleven," said Terry Curl, another resident. "To have something like this happen right here in our own backyard is major."
The victims were 52-year-old Preyas Patel and 35-year-old Logan Thomas.
"We want answers. We want to know who did this," said Curl.
News 3's Kelsey Jones sat down with Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew to get answers and to learn where this case stands a year later.
"The case is never over until we make an arrest," said Chief Drew.
Police released a video of the suspect hoping that these images create conversation.
Chief Drew watched the footage with Jones as he shared stood out most to him.
"He appeared to know exactly where he was going and what he wanted to do," Chief Drew said. "His actions and movement were very deliberate. I think that individual was very confident where he was at."
He said there are leads in the case.
"This case is certainly further along than we were 6 months ago, and a lot further than we were on the night that this occurred," he said.
Chief Drew could not go into specifics about tips or the new leads surrounding the case, but he said he is confident that his team will solve this double homicide.
"This case still has what we would call 'legs to it'," he said. "This still has a lot of moving pieces."
A year after the shooting, the message still remains the same for the Logan family as they lean on the community to come forward. They say they continue to grieve, but they're relying on their faith and Newport News police to bring them justice.
"Have faith in us. We will get there" said Chief Drew.
7-Eleven continues to offer a $10,000 reward for any tips that lead to an arrest, and police still want the public's assistance to help close this case.
"At the end of the day we hope that justice is served for the family and for the 7-Eleven workers because I think everybody was affected by this," said Becker.
