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Serenity Hawley, a 17-year-old Your Pizza Pie employee, was fatally shot by her ex-boyfriend, who then shot himself in a nearby parking garage on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
Per multiple reports, Serenity Hawley, a Blacksburg High School senior who had recently been accepted into Virginia Tech and worked at Your Pie Pizza for about two years, was found dead alongside her ex-boyfriend in her car Tuesday afternoon.
Hawley’s father, John Hawley, told reporters on Thursday that the ex-boyfriend, identified as Croney Monk, shot his daughter in the chest before turning the weapon on himself inside the vehicle. However, police who have not disclosed details of the crime did not characterize the killing as murder-suicide. In a press release on Wednesday, the department said:
"At this time, it appears to be an isolated incident with no ongoing threat to the community. This is still an active and ongoing investigation.”
According to the family, the suspect was a junior at Blacksburg High School and a former varsity football player.
Serenity Hawley had obtained a no-contact order from school against her ex-boyfriend
The Blacksburg community is mourning the loss of a beloved high school student, Serenity Hawley, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend on Tuesday. A GoFundMe campaign was created in the wake of the tragedy to help the slain teen’s family cover funeral expenses and has raised more than $19,000, surpassing the target amount of 15,000. Part of the page read:
“She’s a daughter, a sister, a friend, a teammate, and a student, that will be cherished and remembered by the memories we all shared with her. she’s innocence, beauty, happiness, compassion, and love all blurred into one.”
The teen’s mom, Heather Waldron, told reporters that her daughter had obtained a no-contact order from Blacksburg High School against her ex-boyfriend a month ago. Waldron had reportedly also urged her daughter to seek a restraining order against the ex-boyfriend who went to the same school.
Waldron said that the school knew the suspect had a history of disturbing behavior and could have done more to protect her daughter.
"I do believe that this could have been prevented. I don't want to blame anybody, but people in positions of leadership know that he has a history or a past, and I think that if that had been taken care of, we wouldn't be here.”
Serenity Hawley was killed two days before her eighteenth birthday
As the community grappled with the devastating loss, flowers and candles were strewn outside the parking garage as a part of a makeshift memorial. Hawley's father said that she was killed two days before her eighteenth birthday. He also said that his daughter had plans to watch the Virginia Tech women play on her birthday.
