A teenage girl from Virginia was fatally shot by her "violent" ex-boyfriend in an apparent murder-suicide, shortly after she had sought a no-contact order against him. Serenity Hawley, a 17-year-old from Blacksburg, Virginia, was killed in what is believed to be a murder-suicide just days before her 18th birthday.
Croney Monk shot Hawley in the chest before taking his own life on Tuesday, as reported by her grief-stricken family to 10 News. The bodies of the former couple were found later in Hawley's car, located in a local parking garage, as reported by the Roanoke Times. Police have launched an investigation but do not suspect foul play as of now.
Just for Revenge
Hawley sought a no-contact order against Monk through Blacksburg High School about a month before the tragic incident.
Blacksburg police responded to a report about a suspicious car in a parking lot on University City Boulevard, where the teens were found dead.
Hawley's father, John Hawley, 49, identified his daughter as one of the teens as the deceased.
He said that Hawley had recently been accepted into Virginia Tech, a university in their hometown of Blacksburg, and she was eagerly looking forward to attending.
Hawley was found in the driver's seat of the vehicle. According to reports, her ex-boyfriend, a varsity football player at Blacksburg High School, entered the vehicle and shot her before turning the gun on himself.
Her father said that his family, including her four siblings, is "heartbroken" by the tragic incident. He added, "I couldn't have asked for a better child."
Hawley's family said that she complained about him harassing and blackmailing her.
"I do believe that this could have been prevented," her mother, Heather Waldron, told the outlet.
"People in positions of leadership knew that he has a history or a past, and I think that if that had been taken care of, we wouldn't be here," the grieving mom said.
"I just hope that this is a wake-up call for others that could be in this situation. And I hope that this will prevent someone else, another parent, from living this nightmare."
Family Devastated
Hawley's father said that they were unaware of the ensuing danger. "She was getting that full rainbow of experience. We didn't know that. She didn't tell us that," he lamented.
"But we found out today that, yeah, in the hallways he would walk in front of her and make his presence known, and just do different things.
"He was on social media constantly. He was blackmailing her, telling her he was going to show this and show that. Those are not the types of things that kids need to be doing."
Hawley's stepmother, Katherine Hawley, said that there were things they found after the incident that they wished they had known beforehand. "Violence in any form, especially domestic violence, is serious," she said.
They plan to use a portion of the funds raised through a GoFundMe campaign, which had reached nearly $21,000 by Friday, surpassing its $15,000 goal by approximately $6,000, to set up a scholarship in their daughter's memory.
"And also volunteer and talking about domestic violence with teenagers, because that's where it starts," her dad told WDBJ.
"If we can do something to her passing to help someone else escape this kind of torment, then that's what we want to do. We know that she would want us to have some sort of action."
The Blacksburg Police Department confirmed that the shooting on Tuesday was an isolated incident, and there is no lingering threat to the public, as reported by WDBJ.
The family of Monk, a junior at Blacksburg High School and former varsity football player, has not provided any comments on the deaths.
