On the morning of April 22, 2015, in a Walmart parking lot in Portsmouth, Virginia, the life of 18-year-old William Chapman II, a Black male, was cut short. Chapman was shot and killed by Portsmouth Police Officer Stephen Rankin, who was responding to a report of suspected shoplifting from the store. The fatal encounter began after store security alerted police to a potential shoplifter leaving the premises.
Rankin located Chapman in the parking lot, and a confrontation ensued.
Accounts of the moments leading up to the shooting vary. Prosecutors stated that Rankin could have used non-lethal force, while the defense claimed the officer had to shoot after a stun gun failed to subdue Chapman. An autopsy later revealed that Chapman was shot in the face and chest from a distance, with no evidence of a close-range gunshot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Stephen Rankin was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. This was not the first time Rankin had been involved in a fatal shooting of an unarmed individual. After a trial where the jury, composed of eight Black and four white jurors, deliberated for 13 hours, Rankin was found guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter on August 4, 2016. The jury recommended a sentence of two and a half years in prison, a recommendation the judge later upheld. Rankin was fired from the police department following his indictment.
Following the criminal proceedings, the city of Portsmouth agreed to a $1 million settlement with William Chapman II's family to avoid a civil lawsuit. The family had initially sought a higher amount, expressing that no monetary value could equate to the loss of their son's life. Rankin's subsequent appeals of his conviction were denied.
