Court records, loved ones reveal names of two Newport News teens killed while waiting for bus

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Erster Dionysos Hatch, known by loved ones as DJ, was gunned down at 6:20 a.m. Sept. 10, two blocks from his home as the 10th grader waited for the bus to take him to Menchville High School.

The brazen attack prompted school officials to provide extra security around Menchville that day.

But apparently, that wasn’t the only day the school was on alert.

According to the victim’s father, DJ was suspended on the first day of school after defending himself in a hallway fight. According to the father, the teen who started the fight was also suspended.

Loved ones did not want to appear on camera, but they said they remember DJ
as a pleasant young man and, in the field of photography, he was focused. His smile was broad and he was quite proud of his skills in the boxing ring.

His funeral was held Friday, and he was buried Monday morning.

Seven days after D.J’s death, another 10th grader didn’t make it to Menchville, as 17-year-old Zimir Wright was killed, also waiting for his school bus.

According to a police statement in court records, “a group of juveniles were hanging out in the area of Arlington Avenue after the school bus dropped them off. While in the area, another Black male juvenile, wearing a black hoody, with his hands in his pockets, pulled the firearm and shot toward Zimir Wright.”

A group, Men on Marshall, was formed to provide safety escorts for children before and after school as both cases remain unsolved.

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