Woman sentenced to prison for 2023 DUI manslaughter death of trans activist

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A woman was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for the DUI manslaughter death of a trans activist.

Dominique Chiqura Goodwin, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter for driving drunk the wrong way in the Downtown Tunnel and crashing into another car, causing the death of the other driver.

After a night of drinking on Dec. 30, 2023, Goodwin turned the wrong way onto a one-way street and continued driving eastbound into the westbound side of the Downtown Tunnel.

Nearly halfway through the tunnel, Goodwin crashed her Volkswagen Tiguan head-on into a 2007 Chevrolet Equinox. The driver of the Equinox, 43-year-old Shelby Riddick-Walker, was killed on impact.

An investigation revealed that on the night of the crash, Goodwin’s blood alcohol content was 0.22 — nearly three times the legal driving limit. Investigators also found an empty liquor bottle inside Ms. Goodwin’s vehicle.

“Dominique Goodwin made the decision to drink hard and drive. Ms. Goodwin killed Shelby Riddick-Walker, a beloved mentor to many in the trans community,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Shelby did nothing to deserve her death, and we lost the light of her work too soon. Ms. Goodwin will now serve a long sentence in prison.”

Goodwin entered an agreement on Tuesday to plead guilty as charged to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter and be sentenced to serve 12 years and four months in jail, with another seven years and eight months suspended on the conditions that she forfeit her driver’s license and complete five years of uniform good behavior and three years of supervised probation after her release.

The judge accepted Ms. Goodwin’s plea agreement and sentenced her per the agreement.

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