In the early morning hours of July 15, 2015, a call to Norfolk 9-1-1 dispatchers reported a person with a possible gunshot wound in the 900 block of Holt Street. Responding police and fire-rescue units discovered 21-year-old Michael Clemons Jr. at the scene, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, but tragically, he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
Clemons, a resident of the 3000 block of Grandy Avenue, was a young man whose life was cut short in a neighborhood that residents claimed was plagued by frequent gunfire. His father, Michael Clemons Sr., later expressed his bewilderment, stating he didn't know why his son was on Holt Street that night and that he was just 'trying to understand what happened.'
The Norfolk Police Detective Division immediately launched a homicide investigation. Initially, police had no suspect information and were searching for leads from the public. However, the investigation quickly progressed, and later that same day, authorities identified 21-year-old Lewis McMiller as the suspect. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and McMiller was considered a fugitive who was likely armed and dangerous. Norfolk Police Homicide and Fugitive Squad Detectives apprehended McMiller without incident later that evening, taking him into custody in the 3600 block of E. Virginia Beach Blvd. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
In a surprising turn during the legal proceedings, Lewis McMiller, who had initially turned himself in to 'clear his name' and claimed in a jailhouse interview that he had never met Michael Clemons Jr., pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful use of a firearm. This plea was met with disgust and a sense of injustice by Clemons's family, who believed the two men did know each other. In December 2016, McMiller was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with nine years and four months of that sentence suspended. The victim's mother, Arvet Johnson, expressed her profound grief and disappointment with the sentence, stating that five years in jail was not enough for taking her only son's life. She spoke of the hurt of seeing no remorse from McMiller in court. The family, left to grapple with their loss, remembered Michael as a caring, giving, and bright young man.
