On the night of September 26, 2023, a fatal encounter unfolded at a Motel 6 on North Military Highway in Norfolk, Virginia, leading to the death of 32-year-old Christopher Ambrister. That evening, police responded to a call around 11:20 p.m. regarding a man who had been shot. Upon their arrival, officers discovered Christopher Ambrister suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation that followed led to the swift arrest of
three individuals in connection with the shooting. Isaiah K. Roberson, then 26, and Gavin M. Kearney, then 21, were both charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm. A third person, 19-year-old Shanasia A. Lyles, was charged with being an accessory after the fact. Security footage from the motel was instrumental in the investigation, showing Roberson and Kearney arriving in a vehicle driven by another individual. The footage captured the two men walking to the back of the motel where they encountered Ambrister.
The surveillance video detailed the tragic sequence of events. A confrontation occurred, during which Kearney punched Ambrister. After Ambrister stumbled and briefly scuffled with Kearney from the ground, he managed to stand back up. It was at this moment that Roberson produced a firearm and shot Ambrister in the back. The mortally wounded Ambrister ran towards the motel's main entrance, exclaiming, 'I didn't do nothing,' as the two men pursued him. Outside the lobby, Ambrister stumbled, and Roberson fired a second fatal shot that struck him in the arm and chest. Ambrister collapsed and died just outside the lobby door as his assailants fled the scene.
Following the incident, the suspects fled to another motel in the Ocean View area, where they were later located and apprehended by Norfolk Police investigators. The case proceeded to court, where a jury convicted Isaiah K. Roberson of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of murder. His co-defendant, Gavin M. Kearney, subsequently pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor assault and battery.
