Sinking Economy leads to Tragic end for Coffeeshop owners

For years Cameron Perks Coffee House was the social focal point of the bucolic and well-manicured West End community of Cameron Station.

New moms with their toddlers organized play groups and book clubs during the workday, and on some weekends authors held book signings and local rising musicians held forth in the large living room with overstuffed sofas.  

For James Downs, a 10-year resident of Cameron Station, owning Cameron Perks in the planned K. Hovnanian community became an entreprenurial dream come true when he purchased it a year ago, in Feb. 2008.

But neighbors and friends of Downs told a reporter that the economic stresses of holding together a small business in a tough economy had gotten to him lately, making him edgy and often surly.

Last Thursday at around 10 a.m., the stresses of the deteriorating economy and his failing business got to the 44-year-old entrepreneur.

Downs apparently snapped, shooting his girlfriend and business partner Dominique Dunford in what Alexandria police called a domestic dispute as she tried to escape their townhouse in Cameron Station.  

Neighbors of the couple told a reporter that Dunford was shot twice in the back by Downs as she fled to their garage, where she turned the keys of her car and drove straight through the garage door, into the 5000-block of Waple Lane.

It was there that Alexandria police, who had been alerted by neighbors of shots fired in the neighborhood and had activated a phone-based warning system to 2000 nearby homes, pulled her from the car. Dunford had suffered from multiple gun shot wounds and was transported to a shock trauma unit of a DC hospital. She was released from the hospital on Sunday in good condition, according to neighbors.

Downs, meanwhile, barricaded himself in the townhouse, keeping Alexandria and Arlington police at bay during a tense 12-hour standoff.

The police notified nearby neighbors that an incident was in progress and not to leave their homes.  Officers also asked that Samuel Tucker Elementary School go into “lock down” status for several hours while they negotiated with Downs by telephone. During the day, Downs periodically came out onto his balcony brandishing a handgun which he waved at police.

At one point, Downs released their two-year-old daughter, placing her on the stoop of their townhouse for hostage negotiators to grab her. Around 10:45 p.m., police outside heard a gunshot, entered the home and found Downs dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"It's such an unspeakable tragedy," said a neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "Cameron Perks was such a gift to this community, but I think it was really hard during these economic times for James and Dominique to hold it together, to make it work financially...There is so much aid available to the lower rungs of our society, from food stamps to housing assistance, but for middle class people like James and Dominique, where do you go?"

In the wake of the tragedy, City Councilman Rob Krupicka had scheduled a forum for Cameron Station residents to speak up on how the city can help small businesses which are failing.

"I am meeting with all of the business owners in Cameron Station Wednesday to talk to them about how we can help," Krupicka said. "Better signage is a small but important step -- it has made a big difference on King Street.  But it goes way beyond that.  We need to help residents discover the great things that are going on in Cameron Station.  I think the park is key to that.  How we program the park can make the biggest difference. The tragedy is a tragedy.  There are no other words to describe it."

With what Downs described on his Web site as "eclectic and modernized flair," Cameron Perks Coffee House "cleverly bends post modern and vintage styles to create a comfortable spot that welcomes individuals, families, and business people alike. Our visitors come for exceptional drinks and friendly surroundings. Sit, sip, and savor."

For James Downs and Dominique Dunford, whose relationship and shared dream of small-business success was shattered by violence and suicide last week, any salvation from the sinking economy is too late.

It did not start out that way.

Last summer, Downs wrote in a blog that he posted: "Thus far, the experience has been rewarding...On days where James or Dominique are wondering if they'll make it...One day in July, I was feeling a little defeated, I walked out of the shop breaking through a small line, once I passed the corner, I looked back at the shop, every seat was filled, it was sunny, and I thought to myself, 'this is why!'  I ran home and grabbed my camera to take [a] picture."

The photograph he posted showed every seat filled at Cameron Perks. "Dominique recounts that if she had pursued the interest of opening a coffeeshop in a nearby shopping center that this experience would not have as much value," he wrote. "Who doesn't want to provide a comfortable place for friends?"