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Nelson County: Some answers from VSP on deaths of three people in Rockfish River

Chris Graham
12-28-22 Rockfish River in Nelson County Search Efforts
Photo from the scene of the search effort. Photo: Virginia State Police

Some more answers are coming from Virginia State Police on the mysterious deaths of three people in Nelson County last week.

State Police has now identified a third victim as Jasiah Davis, an 11-year-old whose body was located on a riverbank next to the body of 17-year-old Christopher W. Doss.

Their bodies were found on Dec. 27 after VSP had been alerted to a submerged vehicle in the Rockfish River near the intersection of Bridgeport Lane and Johnson Hollow in the Schuyler area.

A third body, that of Pharoah M. Shabazz, 30, of Arrington, was found in the vehicle, a 1997 Toyota 4Runner.

State Police have been told that there were two additional individuals inside the Toyota – an 18-year-old male and a 12-year-old male.

Search efforts have not yet recovered the bodies of those two.

State Police reported on Friday that Shabazz was the court-appointed legal guardian of three of the passengers.

The fourth passenger was a friend.

The vehicle became submerged when the driver tried to cross the flooded Rockfish River at a low river crossing on Bridgeport Lane and was swept away by the strong current.

The crossing is on private property.

The incident remains under investigation.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].