WASHINGTON — A Norfolk man will spend over three years in prison for helping his longtime partner travel to Northeast D.C. to try to kill an innocent woman she believed was responsible for their son's murder. 

According to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office in D.C., 66-year-old John Nelson McQuillen and Tommie Lynn Dunmire shared a son who was murdered in Cleveland, Ohio, in March 2021. The couple grew frustrated with the lack of progress in their son's case and began their own investigation. 

Officials say while the two searched for their son's killer, Dunmire's mental state significantly deteriorated. 

On Nov. 5, 2021, the couple drove from Norfolk to a home in Northeast D.C. where they believed the person responsible for their son's death lived and decided to get revenge. The person who actually lived at the home was an innocent 30-year-old woman who police say had no involvement in the man's death. 

Surveillance cameras captured video of Dunmire dressed as a UPS agent as she approached the home while carrying a cardboard box. She knocked on the victim's front door just before 9:30 p.m. 

Dunmire claimed to be a UPS delivery person who had a package for the victim. When the woman opened the door, Dunmire shot her two times with a gun she was holding inside an opening in the back of the cardboard box. 

Dunmire ran back to the car where McQuillen was waiting. When they were out of the area, McQuillen swapped out the license plates on the car. D.C. Police later found the couple in the car and stopped them. 

During the stop, Dunmire shot herself using the same gun she used to shoot the victim, killing herself. McQuillen was arrested and has been detained ever since. 

The victim was taken to a hospital for help and survived. 

McQuillen pleaded guilty in April 2022 to accessory after the fact to assault with intent to kill. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release; during that time, he is ordered to stay out of the District of Columbia.