In the fall of 2013, the life of 35-year-old Anthony Eugene Reid was tragically cut short in Portsmouth, Virginia. His family last heard from him on the evening of Saturday, October 5, 2013. The following morning, his body was discovered in a grassy area near railroad tracks behind homes on Choate Street. He was not breathing and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
An investigation into the suspicious death was launched by the Portsmouth Police Department.
More than a month later, on Thursday, November 7, 2013, detectives made an arrest in connection with the case. Twenty-two-year-old Michael Dametrius Atkins of Portsmouth Boulevard was taken into custody and charged with the murder of Anthony Eugene Reid.
The charges brought against Atkins were severe, reflecting the violent nature of the crime. He was charged with first-degree murder, robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The arrest brought some measure of progress in a case that had left a family grieving and a community seeking answers.
