In the early evening of November 10, 2025, a call reporting a person with a gunshot wound brought Virginia Beach Police to the 900 block of Thousand Oaks Drive. There, they discovered the body of 34-year-old Markel Alexander Cephas, a male resident of Chester, Virginia. He had sustained a fatal gunshot injury and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The subsequent investigation into the death of Cephas led detectives to identify 19-year-old Roberto Amir Inniss of Newport News as the
primary suspect. Through the use of investigative technologies, including Flock Safety License Plate Readers, law enforcement was able to quickly develop leads in the case. With the assistance of the Chesapeake Police Department, Inniss was taken into custody within a remarkably short period of just nine hours after the shooting.
Following his apprehension, Roberto Amir Inniss was charged with murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul W. Neudigate commented on the swift arrest, attributing it to the effective integration of real-time data and advanced technology, which significantly expedited the process of locating the suspect. The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.
