On a cold February evening in Portsmouth, Virginia, 25-year-old Emmanuel Eugene Terry was walking home after a workout at a local gym. As he made his way along High Street, in front of the Mt. Nebo RZUA Church, his life was cut short by an unknown assailant who shot him on February 3, 2014. Police responded to a call just after 9:30 p.m. and found Terry's body in the church parking lot.
In the days and weeks that followed, the Portsmouth Police Department worked to uncover leads and
identify a suspect in the homicide, but their efforts did not immediately lead to an arrest. The case grew cold, leaving Emmanuel's family with unanswered questions and a profound sense of loss. His aunts spoke out, expressing their pain and their hope that detectives would eventually find the person responsible for his death.
Tragically, Emmanuel's death was not an isolated incident of violence for his family. His brother, Marquise Terry, had been shot and killed at a party in Portsmouth just over a year earlier, on December 3, 2012. In that case, an arrest was made, bringing a small measure of peace to the grieving family. In a cruel turn of fate, another of his brothers, Cori Terry, was also shot and killed in Portsmouth in 2017.
As of the latest available information, there have been no arrests made in the murder of Emmanuel Terry, and the case remains unsolved. The family continues to mourn the immense loss of three sons and brothers to gun violence, a series of tragedies that have deeply affected the Portsmouth community.
