In the early morning hours of October 8, 2021, the life of 26-year-old Bria Nicole White, a Black female from Charleston, West Virginia, was tragically cut short in a violent double homicide. Police were first called to Hunt Avenue around 1:15 a.m., where they discovered Bria with multiple gunshot wounds. Despite efforts to save her, she succumbed to her injuries at the scene.
Several hours later, a second victim, Kytiana Belcher, 22, was found deceased between two houses on Grant
Street, also with multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators determined that Belcher and White were together at the time of the shooting. The subsequent investigation pointed to Marquis Goodman, 24, of Detroit, as the perpetrator. Less than a week after the killings, Goodman was apprehended in Detroit.
The motive behind the tragic events was revealed to be Goodman's belief that Bria White had arranged for him to be robbed. In a misguided act of retaliation, he shot her. Kytiana Belcher was killed simply for being a witness to the initial crime. Goodman, who had a prior connection to Bria and her sister, expressed that he never intended to harm either woman.
Initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Marquis Goodman later pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of two counts of second-degree murder. In May 2024, a judge sentenced him to the maximum penalty of 80 years in prison, with the 40-year sentences for each count to be served consecutively. During the sentencing, Bria's mother, Leticia Norman, shared the profound and lasting heartbreak caused by her daughter's murder, which occurred just eleven days before Bria's 27th birthday.
