In the early hours of April 20, 2024, the life of Eric Pernell Jones Jr., a 31-year-old Black man from Portsmouth, Virginia, was ended by gunfire. Police were called to the 600 block of Lancer Drive for a report of suspicious activity just before 1:30 a.m. When they arrived, they discovered two men who had been fatally shot. The victims were identified as Jones and 32-year-old Russell Branden Barnes.
Officers found Jones in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to his head.
Nearby, in front of a residence, lay Barnes, who had been shot in the back of his left thigh and in his right eye. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene, leaving a community to mourn their sudden and violent deaths.
The investigation into the double homicide moved quickly. After detectives interviewed witnesses, a man named Jamal Antonio Parham returned to the scene on Lancer Drive. He approached a detective and admitted to shooting Jones, telling the officer that the gun he used was on the front seat of his vehicle. Parham was then taken into custody.
Parham was charged in the killings of both men. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The case concluded when Parham was sentenced to serve an active term of 30 years in prison. His sentence consisted of a 40-year term with 16 years suspended for each murder count, to be served concurrently, followed by two consecutive three-year sentences for the firearm charges. Upon his release, Parham will be subject to five years of supervised probation.
