In the early morning hours of June 28, 2014, a dispute in Newport News, Virginia, escalated into a fatal shooting that claimed the life of 28-year-old Michael Deon Robinson. The incident unfolded around 2:15 a.m. near the intersection of 22nd Street and Roanoke Avenue, where police responded to a report of a man with gunshot wounds lying in the street. Emergency personnel transported Robinson to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
A 41-year-old woman was also injured in the shooting but her injuries were not life-threatening.
The events leading to the shooting reportedly began with an argument. During the altercation, Trudale Devon Terry shot Robinson multiple times. Witnesses testified that after Robinson fell to the ground, Terry approached him and fired several more shots as Robinson lay pleading for his life. An autopsy later revealed that Robinson had been shot five times. Following the shooting of Robinson, Terry then began firing at a van occupied by two women. One of the women was struck by a bullet in the elbow and grazed by another on her back.
Within days of the shooting, Newport News police identified Trudale Devon Terry, who was 23 years old at the time, as the suspect and obtained warrants for his arrest on charges of murder, maiming, and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. In September 2014, Terry was apprehended in Hampton by the Newport News Fugitive Apprehension unit and U.S. Marshals.
During his trial in July 2015, witnesses provided testimony detailing the argument that preceded the shooting and the subsequent events. One witness recounted that Robinson had said to Terry, 'You got your gun, so I'm gonna go get my gun,' implying he would retrieve a weapon from his home and was not armed at that moment. Prosecutors argued that Terry felt disrespected during the confrontation. Terry's defense attorney suggested that if Terry was at the scene, he acted in self-defense, or alternatively, that he may have been at a party in Hampton at the time of the incident. Ultimately, a Circuit Court judge found the evidence overwhelmingly sufficient and convicted Trudale Devon Terry on 13 felony charges, including first-degree murder, maiming, two counts of attempted murder, and multiple gun charges.
