In the quiet neighborhood of Green Valley in Arlington, Virginia, a grim discovery was made on the evening of April 23, 2020. Marshall Stephens Jr., a 45-year-old man, was found deceased in the driver's seat of his vehicle, which was parked in the 1900 block of S. Lowell Street. Officers had been dispatched to the scene following a report of a suspicious vehicle. Upon their arrival, they found Mr.
Stephens alone, having sustained a single gunshot wound to the back of his head.
The investigation into the death of Marshall Stephens Jr. quickly pointed toward a domestic-related homicide. The ensuing police work led to the identification of a suspect: the victim's own father, Marshall Stephens Sr., who was 65 years old at the time and resided in Parkville, Maryland. In September 2020, the elder Stephens was arrested and charged with the murder of his son, as well as the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was subsequently held in the Arlington County Detention Facility.
The legal proceedings that followed culminated in a jury trial in January 2022. After a thorough presentation of the evidence gathered by the Arlington County Police Department, the jury found Marshall Stephens Sr. guilty of first-degree murder and the associated firearm charge. The conviction brought a close to a nearly two-year investigation and court process, confirming that the death of Marshall Stephens Jr. was at the hands of his father. The motive behind the tragic event was not publicly detailed by authorities.
