In the early hours of a Wednesday morning in Hampton, Virginia, the life of 21-year-old Marcus A. Major was tragically cut short. On March 11, 2015, police responded to a call of shots fired in the 300 block of Brightwood Avenue. Upon their arrival at approximately 1:51 a.m., they discovered Marcus inside a white Chevrolet Impala, deceased from gunshot wounds. He was a lifelong resident of Hampton, having attended city schools and earned his GED in 2013.
At the time of his death, he was working as a production worker.
The investigation into the shooting quickly revealed that the incident was not a random act of violence. Police determined that Marcus had been involved in a verbal altercation with a man he knew. The argument escalated, leading the other man to draw a weapon and fire at Marcus. A 19-year-old woman was also present in the vehicle with Marcus but was fortunately not injured during the attack. The man identified as the shooter was Paris Marcellis Small, a 23-year-old resident of Hampton.
Following the identification of Small as the primary suspect, a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of one count of murder, one count of attempted maiming, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. For over a month, Small remained at large. The search for him extended beyond Virginia, and on April 21, 2015, he was located and arrested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was taken into custody without incident and awaited extradition back to Hampton to face the charges against him.
