HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Loved ones are remembering a mother and daughter who were killed during a barricade incident and shooting in Henrico County.
Police say 60-year-old Richard Crowder has been charged in connection with the double homicide on Saturday. He’s also a former employee of the Henrico County Police Division who retired in 2014.
According to Henrico Police, on the morning of July 2, Crowder shot and killed Diane Crowder and Carrie Szaksz in a house on the 7600 block of Phillips Woods Drive and barricaded himself inside for nearly nine hours before coming out and surrendering to police.
John and Judy Pulley, the uncle and aunt of Crowder and Szaksz, said they always loved to help people.
“You couldn’t find two better girls than they were,” Mr. Pulley said. “Diane, we call her Sissy. She helped her mom and daddy everyday. They’ve been sick,” Mrs. Pulley said.
They added there’s few words to describe such a loss as this.
“We thought everything was going to be okay when he gave himself up. We were relieved that it’s over, you know, but it wasn’t over really,” she said. “It just started,” Mr. Pulley said.
Richard Crowder faces two counts of second degree murder, three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of malicious shooting.
The FBI, Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police and the Metro-Richmond Flying Squad responded to the scene Saturday.
Officers on scene heard gunfire inside and coming from the home around 9:45 a.m. Two men left the home after hearing shots fired, and they weren’t hurt. At around 6:30 p.m., Crowder walked out of the home while on the phone with law enforcement and surrendered.
Crowder is being held at the Henrico County jail without bond.