The morning of May 7, 2025, brought an act of shocking violence to a quiet street in Virginia Beach, ending the life of 90-year-old Woodard McClure. A white male, McClure lived in the Avalon Hills neighborhood on Rodney Lane, a community described by neighbors as peaceful and safe. That peace was broken shortly after 11 a.m. when a distressing 911 call was made from inside his own home.
The caller was McClure’s 43-year-old daughter, Jennifer Mulligan, who told dispatchers that she had
shot her father. When officers from the Virginia Beach Police Department arrived at the residence in the 500 block of Rodney Lane, they found Mulligan waiting for them outside. Inside the house, they discovered Woodard McClure, who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Emergency medical personnel pronounced him deceased at the scene.
The investigation quickly pointed to a domestic-related incident. Mulligan, who lived in the home with her father, husband, and brother, told detectives that she was her father’s caregiver and confessed to the shooting. She was taken into custody without incident and charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. She was subsequently held without bond at the city jail.
News of the killing stunned those who knew the family. One longtime neighbor, a retired police officer, expressed his disbelief, calling the McClures "very nice people." He recalled Mulligan, whom he called "Jenny," as someone he had always liked, who would always wave and smile when she saw him. Another resident described being scared by the sudden presence of police cars and crime tape on their otherwise tranquil street.
The case progressed through the legal system over the following year. In April 2026, Jennifer Mulligan pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and use of a firearm. Four months later, in August 2026, a judge sentenced her to serve 17 years in prison for the killing of her father.
