Authorities have confirmed that a body found on Thursday, February 6, in Goochland County near the Fluvanna County line is Kevin W. Quick, the 45-year-old Nelson County man missing since Friday, January 31. In the week since he disappeared after leaving his mother’s Nelson County residence and failing to arrive at his planned Albemarle County destination, five individuals have been arrested in connection with the case.
In addition to a brother and sister from Albemarle County charged in connection with Quick’s stolen Toyota 4Runner, three people from Northern Virginia were arrested on Thursday and charged with principal in the second degree to the crime of murder, a charge that means they were involved with his death but not directly responsible. Those three suspects, Gert Wright, aka Halisi Uhuru, 22, of Gamble, Virginia; Leslie Casterlow, 49, of Manassas; and Anthony D. Stokes, 31, of Manassas, are all also charged with gang participation, according to Virginia State Police.
If the idea of organized gangs in Central Virginia seems surprising, it shouldn’t, according to Albemarle Police spokesperson Carter Johnson, who says there are 183 verified gang members in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and police suspect the number of active gang members is higher. In addition to numerous “homegrown” gangs, Johnson said there are more than half a dozen national gangs with branches that reach into the Charlottesville community.
“The Bloods are the largest gang with numerous sets,” said Johnson. Other national gangs active locally include the Crips, MS13, the Latin Kings, Gangster Disciples, 18th Street, and Sureno 13, according to Johnson.
State Police have been tightlipped about the investigation, which has involved assistance from numerous agencies including the FBI. According to State Police, Quick, a captain in the Waynesboro Police Reserve Unit and the father of an infant daughter, was last seen in Nelson County around 10:15pm on Friday, January 31, and was headed to a friend’s apartment in the Turtle Creek Apartments off Hydraulic Road. According to search warrants obtained by NBC12 and other media outlets, his Verizon cell phone was turned off at 10:52pm on Friday night, and he never arrived at his destination.
In the days that followed, police released surveillance images of a person of interest and announced that Quick’s 4Runner had been spotted in Manassas and Fork Union. It was recovered after being abandoned in Mineral, Virginia, on Monday morning, February 3. The following day, 18-year-old Daniel Mathis and 20-year-old Mersadies Shelton were arrested in an Alexandria hotel room. Their sister, 24-year-old Shantai Shelton, was also arrested at the same time on unrelated charges. All three are being held without bond in the Central Virginia Regional Jail.
Two days later, Uhuru, Casterlow and Stokes were taken into custody. They are being held in the Henrico County jail and will appear in court on February 10. Police have not released Quick’s cause of death.
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