When Amylah Majors and Jamaria Gaskins, a married Black lesbian couple in their early 20s, ran over some debris while driving in rural Spotsylvania County, Virginia, around 6:30 p.m. on July 20, they began hearing a thumping sound from their vehicle, so they pulled over to inspect. Little did they realize that they’d soon be running for their lives.

They turned on their hazard lights, exited their car, and saw a white man exit a nearby home and give them a “thumbs up” sign. But instead of helping, he and two other white people allegedly approached the women and began shouting racist slurs — one of the people, a white woman, brandished a gun at the couple, the Fredericksburg Free Press reported.

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“Two of them physically attacked my wife while … screaming threats,” Gaskins wrote. “They called us n***ers,’ told us we didn’t belong there, and one of them even exposed himself while screaming hate and slurs at us. The entire time, my wife was on the phone with the police, actively reporting everything as it escalated.”

When the women got back into their vehicle and attempted to drive off, the three white people jumped into their vehicles and chased them down the road, Gaskins added.

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“One of them rode up beside us on a 4-wheeler and aimed a gun directly at my head through the driver’s window,” she continued. “In that moment, we truly believed we weren’t going to make it out alive.”

While fleeing in a panic, the women accidentally crashed their car, ejecting Majors from their vehicle. She woke up in the hospital with a fractured spine, broken clavicle, broken rib, severe concussion, and multiple head injuries that required a staple. Gaskins also suffered from a concussion.

“I am beyond grateful to be alive,” she said.

Two of the alleged assailants, Elizabeth Wolfrey, 32, and Mark Goodman, 59, are now facing separate criminal charges. Wolfrey faces one count of pointing and brandishing a firearm, and Goodman faces a charge of indecent exposure after video of the incident showed him exposing his buttocks to the couple. Both have been released on bail and are expected in court on November 20. The third alleged assailant has not yet been charged with any crimes.

However, the local prosecutor is considering pursuing hate crime charges, Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office Major Delbert Myrick said.

“We don’t want racism. We don’t want hate in our community. We want a happy community where everybody gets along,” Myrick said. He noted that police didn’t release a statement about the alleged attack until July 30 in an attempt to protect the victims, as Majors was still hospitalized and could have faced further intimidation following a statement.

“The big thing we’re trying to express is we understand the community’s outrage, or concerns or anxiety over this incident and similar incidents that have arisen in the community,” Myrick said. “At the sheriff’s office, we ensure them that we’re taking it seriously and we will examine this or thoroughly investigate this crime and present it to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office to make sure due diligence and justice is done.” 

Moe Petway, president of the Spotsylvania NAACP, also said his racial justice organization is monitoring the investigation and will speak to the couple for more information. 

Gaskins launched a GoFundMe account to help pay for “overwhelming medical bills, trauma therapy, legal assistance, lost income, and the cost of rebuilding our lives,” she wrote. As of Thursday morning, the crowdfunding campaign has raised $4,850 of its $125,000 goal.

“My wife walked away with minor physical injuries, but we were both assaulted, traumatized, and nearly killed,” Gaskins wrote. “This was not just an accident — this was an attempted act of violence meant to harm and silence us.”

“We will not be silent,” she said.

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