September 17, 2025 QUEENS, N.Y. – A quiet Friday night in East Elmhurst turned into a scene of unimaginable horror as a 21-year-old woman was gunned down in her own apartment building after a frantic chase. The victim, identified by police as Dashanna Donovan, was fatally shot in the head, leaving her community and family in shock as the search for her killer continues.
Sources say officers responded to a 911 call reporting an assault in progress near 96th Street just after 9:30 p.m. When they arrived, they discovered Donovan already deceased. According to the NYPD, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Surveillance footage obtained by the New York Post reportedly shows the final, terrifying moments of Donovan's life. The video captures a man, gun in hand, relentlessly pursuing her into her building. Her mother, Helena Hypolite, told the Post that her daughter's startled reaction suggests she may have known her attacker. "She looked shocked when she saw him," Hypolite said, "and she ran inside."
As of now, the motive behind this brutal slaying remains a mystery, and police have not confirmed the nature of the relationship between Donovan and the man seen chasing her. The suspect is described as a man wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and black sneakers, and carrying a black bookbag. He remains at large, a dangerous figure at large in the city.
