In the early hours of March 17, 2021, a dispute inside a home in the 600 block of Wiley Drive in Norfolk, Virginia, escalated to a fatal conclusion. Eddie Moet Jenkins, a 31-year-old Black male, was shot and killed just before 1 a.m. When police responded to a report of a gunshot victim, they found Jenkins suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a heated argument preceded the violence.
An altercation broke out between Jenkins and Markell T. Scott. Although Jenkins reportedly displayed a firearm during the confrontation, he did not fire it. The physical fight was interrupted when Curtis E. Copeland Jr. intervened. Both Copeland and Scott then produced their own firearms and shot Jenkins multiple times. Investigators later determined that Jenkins was not the aggressor in the incident.
The Norfolk Police Department swiftly made arrests in the case. Curtis E. Copeland Jr., who was 19 at the time, was arrested on the same day as the shooting and charged with murder and use of a firearm. As the investigation progressed, three other men were also charged in connection with the homicide. Markell T. Scott, 18, William Gainer, 18, and Raevon K. Gordon, 19, were each charged with conspiracy and use of a firearm. All four suspects were taken into custody and held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond.
The legal process brought convictions for two of the men involved. Curtis E. Copeland Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 13 years in prison, with an additional nine years suspended. His sentencing included conditions of no contact with Jenkins' family or witnesses and a period of supervised probation. Markell T. Scott pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received a sentence of eight years in prison, with an additional two years suspended contingent on good behavior and supervised probation. William Gainer and Raevon K. Gordon were both charged with conspiracy and use of a firearm and were held without bond.
