Story by Ethan
On January 15th, 2026, the arrest of De’Ovryion Elijha Ray, age 23, was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. De’Ovryion Elijha Ray was charged with second-degree Murder and two counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The arrest and charges against De’Ovryion Elijha Ray were a result of an investigation handled by Detective Matthew Mozdziak of the 115th Precinct’s Detective Squad and Detective Keith Adamiszyn of the Queens South Homicide Squad.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, at approximately 9:00 p.m. on September 12th, 2025, a nearby motion sensor light was activated in an alleyway while the victim, 21-year-old Dashanna Donovan, was in her own backyard at 96th Street in East Elmhurst, New York. The victim recognized the individual that activated the motion sensor light as allegedly De’Ovryion Elijha Ray who was wearing a navy blue hoodie, dark colored pants, a mask covering the lower half of his face, and a single gun on the hand holding what appeared to be a gun. Allegedly De’Ovryion Elijha Ray began to approach the victim while brandishing the firearm as she ran into her apartment while screaming. The defendant allegedly continued to pursue Dashanna Donovan into her home while continuing to have the firearm pointed in her direction. Soon after local police responded to Dashanna Donovan’s residence and found her lying in the doorframe of her bathroom suffering from gunshot wounds to her head and torso, however first responders pronounced her dead at the scene. Five shell casings, two fired bullets, and six bullet fragments were recovered from the scene during investigation. Public transportation records revealed that De’Ovryion Elijha Ray boarded a bus from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Manhattan, New York, arriving at approximately 6:30 p.m. on September 12th, 2025. Allegedly the defendant then took a subway from Manhattan to Queens before then walking to the victim’s residence. Immediately after the incident the defendant then supposedly fled back to Virginia Beach.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against De’Ovryion Elijha Ray are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
