In the autumn of 2016, the life of 20-year-old Kevin Neal was tragically cut short in a burst of gunfire near Hampton University. On the evening of October 19th, police responded to a call of a shooting in the first block of Mariners Cove Road. Arriving at the scene, they found three men suffering from gunshot wounds. One of them, Kevin Neal, a resident of Hampton, was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders.
The investigation that followed revealed a grim sequence of
events. Two other men were transported to local hospitals with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Police determined that two suspects had approached one of the surviving victims in an attempt to rob him. This led to an exchange of gunfire between the would-be robbery victim and the suspects. In the ensuing chaos, all three men were struck.
A break in the case came with the arrest of McCardeous Markell Askew, a 20-year-old man from the neighboring city of Newport News. He was taken into custody in connection with the homicide and faced a string of serious charges, including one count of attempted robbery, one count of maiming, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling. The Hampton Police Division continued to investigate the deadly encounter, piecing together the events that led to a young man's death and the wounding of two others.
