Tanna D. Gardner

Tanna D. Gardner was a young woman from Richmond whose life had just reached an important milestone when she graduated from Virginia Union University. At 23, she had completed her studies as an accounting major and was celebrating that achievement with friends and family — a moment that reflected years of effort, hope, and the promise of a career ahead.

Those who knew Tanna remember a graduate stepping into adulthood: someone who had worked toward a degree and planned for the future. Her presence in the Richmond community and the fact that friends gathered to celebrate her graduation speak to relationships she had nurtured and the support around her during this turning point in life.

Tanna’s family publicly expressed the depth of their loss in the days after May 14, 2017. The double loss experienced by two families prompted public vigils and appeals for information, reflecting how much these young women’s lives mattered to their communities. Though there is limited publicly available personal detail beyond her studies and the circumstances surrounding her death, the facts that remain — her recent graduation, her ties to Richmond, and the grief of those left behind — point to a life that had meaning and potential beyond the headlines.

While the community continues to remember Tanna for the person she was and the future she had earned the right to pursue, this page honors her as more than a date or a news item: she was a daughter, a graduate, and a young woman whose achievements and relationships mattered to family and friends. Her life and accomplishments deserve to be recalled with the dignity and care that every person’s memory merits.