On the evening of April 25, 2014, in Newport News, Virginia, Vidal Lamont Sills, a 41-year-old Black male, was visiting his ex-girlfriend and their daughter, bringing them food. Remembered by friends as a generous man who often helped others, his visit to the apartment building in the 13000 block of Sojourner Court in the Denbigh area would tragically be his last.
An argument erupted between Sills and another man, 24-year-old Joshua Johnson Caffey, also of Newport News.
The dispute quickly escalated, culminating in Caffey pulling out a firearm and shooting Sills multiple times. Shortly after 10:20 p.m., Vidal Lamont Sills was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting prompted an immediate police investigation. Witnesses identified Caffey as the man who had shot Sills during the altercation, making him the primary suspect in the case.
Two days after the fatal shooting, law enforcement located and arrested Joshua Johnson Caffey while he was in a car on Colony Road. Following his arrest, Caffey was charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. A Newport News grand jury later indicted him on these charges, based on the evidence and witness testimony collected by the police. His trial was subsequently scheduled to take place at the Newport News Circuit Court.
