In the late hours of a spring night in Petersburg, Virginia, the life of 31-year-old Ravon Simone Mays was tragically cut short. On May 6, 2021, Mays, a female employee of the OYO Hotel on South Crater Road, was fatally shot on the premises. The Petersburg Police responded to a call about the shooting and discovered Mays' body, launching a homicide investigation into her death.
For three months, the case remained under investigation as authorities worked to identify a suspect.
The breakthrough in the case came in August 2021, when the Petersburg Police, in collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, arrested 21-year-old Franklin Jerome Coleman, Jr., of Petersburg. Coleman was taken into custody and faced a slew of charges, including first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Following his arrest, Coleman was held without bond as the legal process against him began.
During the subsequent trial, a narrative of the events that transpired on the night of Ravon Mays' death began to emerge. A key witness, who was with Mays in her hotel room shortly before the murder, testified that a man who identified himself as 'Whoad' had come looking for her. Mays appeared to recognize the name and went outside to meet with the individual. Shortly after, the fatal shots were fired. The prosecution presented evidence and witness testimony to build its case against Coleman, who was identified as the man known as 'Whoad.'
Ultimately, a jury found Franklin Jerome Coleman, Jr. guilty of the first-degree murder of Ravon Simone Mays. In addition to the murder charge, he was also convicted of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, discharging a firearm in public, and solicitation to alter or destroy evidence. Following the conviction, Coleman pursued an appeal, but the court ultimately affirmed the jury's verdict. The motive for the senseless act of violence that ended a young woman's life was not made clear in the available information, leaving a lingering question in the tragic story of Ravon Simone Mays' untimely death.
