Cola Beale IV Sentenced to Life Following Jury Convictions for 1st Degree Murder, Using Firearm in Norfolk Homicide After Committing Virginia Beach Murders
NORFOLK, Va. — Cola Winborne Beale IV, 33, was sentenced on Friday to serve life plus five years in prison for the 2022 first-degree murder of Downing Dujuan McLean in Norfolk just after Mr. Beale had committed two aggravated murders in Virginia Beach.
On March 28, 2022, the Norfolk Police Special Operations Team was assisting Virginia Beach Police with executing a search warrant on an apartment at 3044 Sewells Point Road when officers found Mr. McLean deceased inside the unit. During their investigation of two other murders committed in Virginia Beach in the days prior to Mr. McLean’s death, detectives developed Mr. Beale as a suspect. Mr. Beale was arrested in Hampton on March 30, 2022, and Mr. Beale provided a full confession to Norfolk and Virginia Beach investigators to the three murders, including Mr. McLean’s, that he had committed in the week prior to his arrest.
Mr. Beale shot Mr. McLean once in his mouth and once in his back and left Mr. McLean to die. Mr. McLean had been dead for at least two days before his body was discovered by police. Mr. Beale said during his confession that he shot Mr. McLean because he considered Mr. McLean to be a liability, as Mr. McLean was knowledgeable of the previous murders Mr. Beale committed.
On May 22, 2024, a Norfolk jury found Mr. Beale guilty as charged of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of murder. Today, Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise sentenced Mr. Beale to serve a life sentence for first-degree murder and five years for using a firearm.
For the offenses Mr. Beale committed in Virginia Beach in the week prior to Mr. McLean’s death, a jury found Mr. Beale guilty on March 20, 2024, of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of those felonies, abduction, killing an animal, and two counts of arson. Mr. Beale was sentenced for those charges on July 2 to three life terms plus 63 years in prison.
“Justice was served today,” said Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Beale murdered multiple people, all family. He said he would have killed again. We have a duty to protect the community, and we did our duty. Our hearts go out to the families who will never get their loved ones back.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Anthony J. Comento and Bailey C. Ottinger prosecuted Mr. Beale’s Norfolk case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detectives La’Toya N. Mitchell and Daryl R. Jarvis led the investigation into Mr. McLean’s death.
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May 22, 2024
Norfolk Jury Convicts Cola Beale IV of 1st Degree Murder, Using a Firearm in Man’s Death Following Virginia Beach Murder Convictions of 2 Others
NORFOLK, Va. – A jury convicted Cola Winborne Beale IV, 32, on Wednesday of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of murder for shooting and killing Downing Dujuan McLean in Norfolk. This was Mr. Beale’s third jury conviction of murder, following two aggravated murder convictions in Virginia Beach from a connected string of killings in 2022.
On March 28, 2022, the Norfolk Police Special Operations Team was assisting Virginia Beach Police with executing a search warrant on an apartment at 3044 Sewells Point Road when officers found Mr. McLean deceased inside the unit. During their investigation of two other murders committed in Virginia Beach in the days prior to Mr. McLean’s death, detectives developed Mr. Beale as a suspect. Mr. Beale was arrested in Hampton on March 30, 2022, and Mr. Beale provided a full confession to Norfolk and Virginia Beach investigators to the three murders, including Mr. McLean’s, that he had committed in the week prior to his arrest.
Mr. Beale shot Mr. McLean once in his mouth and once in his back and left Mr. McLean to die. Mr. McLean had been dead for at least two days before his body was discovered by police. Mr. Beale said during his confession that he shot Mr. McLean because he considered Mr. McLean to be a liability, as Mr. McLean was knowledgeable of the previous murders Mr. Beale committed.
On Wednesday, after nearly two hours of deliberation, a Norfolk jury found Mr. Beale guilty as charged of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of murder in Mr. McLean’s death. Mr. Beale is set for sentencing before Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise on Aug. 23.
On March 20, 2024, a Virginia Beach jury found Mr. Beale guilty of two counts of aggravated murder as well as eight other felonies related to those murders committed before Mr. Beale fatally shot Mr. McLean. Mr. Beale is set for sentencing on those 10 charges in Virginia Beach on July 2.
“I am proud of my prosecution team’s work in securing a conviction against Mr. Beale for his senseless and premeditated murder of his own cousin, and I express my appreciation to the Norfolk Police Homicide Bureau, whose work is second to none,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Beale may have confessed to all of his murders, but he remains a threat to public safety, and we will seek a sentence that will protect the community. My heart goes out to the families of Mr. McLean and of Mr. Beale’s victims in Virginia Beach. We grieve together.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Anthony J. Comento and Bailey C. Ottinger are prosecuting Mr. Beale’s Norfolk case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detectives La’Toya N. Mitchell and Daryl R. Jarvis led the investigation into Mr. McLean’s death.
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