On a Sunday afternoon in Norfolk, Virginia, on May 29, 2016, a dispatch call came in at 2:43 p.m. for a possible gunshot victim in the 800 block of Johnson Avenue. When police and paramedics arrived, they found 41-year-old Kenneth Britt suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Tragically, Britt was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident marked another homicide in the Olde Huntersville neighborhood, which had been experiencing a rise in violent crime.
The investigation into the death
of Kenneth Britt, a male resident of Norfolk, quickly led to a suspect. A few days later, on June 1, 2016, Norfolk Police arrested 40-year-old Shelton Givens, also a resident of Norfolk. Givens was charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was subsequently held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond.
Following his arrest, Shelton Givens faced trial for the murder of Kenneth Britt. At his trial, Givens claimed that he acted in self-defense. However, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Givens later appealed his convictions, arguing that the trial court made errors regarding the admission of evidence, which he claimed limited his ability to present his self-defense argument fully. The appeal was heard by the Court of Appeals of Virginia. In February 2020, the court ultimately affirmed the trial court's judgment, and Shelton Givens's convictions for the murder of Kenneth Britt and the related firearm charge were upheld.
