In the spring of 2016, a Newport News, Virginia community was shaken by the loss of a man dedicated to steering youth away from the very violence that claimed his life. Charles Levar Sharpe, a 34-year-old Black male, was found by police on the evening of May 20th in the Stuart Gardens neighborhood, suffering from a single gunshot wound. The shooting occurred around 9:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Garden Drive. Sharpe was rushed to a local hospital where he was placed on life support. Tragically, his injuries proved too severe, and his family made the difficult decision to remove him from life support three days later, on May 23, 2016.
Charles Levar Sharpe was a man deeply invested in his community. A former cryptologist for the Navy, he was a father to a 12-year-old daughter and a figure many young people looked up to. He dedicated his time to coaching peewee football in the East End and was involved in various other youth programs. Through his own media company, Sharpe worked to highlight the positive achievements of young people by producing documentaries. His death was a profound loss for those who knew him and for the community he tirelessly served. Friends and family remembered him as a man committed to making a positive impact, and some speculated that his shooting may have been a case of mistaken identity.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Newport News Police Department urged the public to come forward with any information that could lead to an arrest. Authorities offered the possibility of a cash reward for tips that could help them solve the case and assured that callers could remain anonymous. Despite these pleas for information, no suspects were publicly identified or arrested in connection with the murder of Charles Levar Sharpe. The investigation into his death has not yielded any publicly announced arrests or convictions in the years that have followed, and his case is considered a homicide.
