In the late afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2024, in Ridgeway, Virginia, the life of 29-year-old Marquise Antonio Waller was cut short by gunfire. Deputies from the Henry County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a residence at 143 Villa Road around 5:00 p.m. following reports of shots being fired into an occupied dwelling. Upon their arrival, they discovered Waller inside, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly after the fatal shooting, a 25-year-old man named Takai Anthony Brodie turned himself in to investigators at the Henry County Sheriff's Office. Brodie, a U.S. Army veteran from New Jersey, was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was held without bond at the Henry County Adult Detention Center. Investigators revealed that Brodie was visiting Henry County for the first time and had mutual acquaintances with Waller, which led to their encounter.
Authorities stated that Brodie had entered Waller's residence armed with two firearms and intentionally shot him before fleeing. While Brodie claimed that he acted in self-defense, the sheriff's office initially stated that his account did not align with the evidence they had gathered. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Waller's death continued, and his body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Roanoke for an autopsy.
Following a multi-day jury trial in Martinsville, Virginia, Takai Brodie was acquitted of all charges on July 17, 2025. The jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict after just 45 minutes of deliberation, finding that Brodie had acted in lawful self-defense. His defense attorney argued that Brodie, a lawfully armed man, was walking into a dangerous and volatile situation and made a split-second decision to protect himself and others. The defense stated that Waller was a convicted violent felon and was found armed inside his residence. Brodie was released from custody following the verdict.
