Va. Beach teen killed in drive-by 'the nicest boy'

VIRGINIA BEACH

In just a few weeks, Brandon Ashby would have started his senior year at Ocean Lakes High School, friends and neighbors said Friday.

But instead, his family is preparing for his funeral. The 17-year-old was gunned down late Wednesday night while walking with a friend on Bold Ruler Drive in Ocean Lakes, police said. The two fled to a nearby condominium, where Ashby died of his injuries. His friend was uninjured, police said.

Investigators are working the case, but don't know why someone would have wanted to kill the teen, said Officer Margie Hobbs, a police spokeswoman. Authorities don't have a description of the gunman, but a police report filed online describes the vehicle that carried the shooter as a white Ford Escort.

Ashby's family has declined requests for interviews, but friends and neighbors described him as a good kid who'd enjoyed sports and stayed out of trouble.

A memorial page for Ashby on the social networking website Facebook had more than 400 members Friday evening.

"He was a part of our football team and our dolphin family," April Warner, who'd been a team manager before graduating from Ocean Lakes this year, said in a Facebook message. "He always seemed to be a good person and a good student."

Isabelle Lee, who lived a few houses down from Ashby on Debussy Court before moving two years ago, said she'd known him since he was a toddler. As a child, he'd often spent time at her home swimming and playing games with her grandson, she said. Friends said he also played soccer.

"He was the nicest boy," Lee said.

Ashby's family declined to say when the teen's funeral will be held.

"He will forever be missed," Warner wrote, "but never forgotten in this world nor from the dolphin family."

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com