On a late Sunday evening in Portsmouth, Virginia, the life of 30-year-old Anthony Reid, Jr., a Black male, was tragically cut short. Just after 11 p.m. on September 9, 2018, police responded to a call on Centre Avenue, near Elm Avenue. Arriving medics found Reid inside his parked car, where he was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
The incident was captured on surveillance footage, which would later prove crucial in the investigation.
The video showed two men approaching Reid's car. One of the men, Shawn Grant, fired a single shot into Reid's head from the driver's side. While the second man, Timothy Woods, remained at the driver's side, Grant moved to the passenger side and fired three more shots into Reid. Following the shooting, both Grant and Woods fled the scene in their vehicle. In response to the violence, the Portsmouth Police Department organized a community engagement walk to show support in the aftermath of the traumatic event.
The investigation led to the identification and arrest of Shawn Grant and Timothy Woods. During the subsequent legal proceedings, Timothy Woods was the first to face a jury. On May 8, 2019, he was convicted in the first-degree murder of Anthony Reid, Jr., and on September 5, 2019, he was sentenced to thirty-three years in prison. Woods identified himself in the surveillance footage and admitted to being present at the driver's side window, pushing Reid over after he had been shot.
Shawn Grant's trial followed, and on January 8, 2020, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of that murder. The jury recommended a sentence of life in prison for the murder charge and an additional three years for the firearm charge. Grant later made a statement, saying, "I shot his ass because we had words," providing a chilling motive for the fatal encounter. His formal sentencing was scheduled for March 10, 2020.
