Florida Man Sentenced to 30 Years After Pleading Guilty to 2nd Degree Murder From 2021 Fatal Shooting of Woman Navy Sailor Stationed in Norfolk
NORFOLK, Va. — Robert Laron Jackson, 22, was sentenced on Friday to serve 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of 19-year-old Navy Seaman Haniah Sturdivant outside a Titustown apartment complex in 2021.
Just before 11 p.m. on April 25, 2021, Mr. Jackson fatally shot Ms. Sturdivant multiple times in her torso, arm, and legs while she sat inside her car parked outside the apartment of a man whom she was dating at the time. Ms. Sturdivant identified Mr. Jackson as the shooter to medics on her way to the hospital, and she died the following day.
Mr. Jackson — who was not in the Navy — is from Florida and met Ms. Sturdivant through one of his friends who was in the Navy and stationed in Norfolk. When Mr. Jackson came to Norfolk in early April 2021, he was wanted for outstanding warrants in Florida.
Mr. Jackson had expressed interest in Ms. Sturdivant, but Ms. Sturdivant was not interested in him and had recently begun dating someone else. In the days leading up to Ms. Sturdivant’s murder, Mr. Jackson had expressed to one of his friends a motivation to kill her new boyfriend and Ms. Sturdivant, too, if she got in his way.
Earlier on the day of the murder, Ms. Sturdivant went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg with Mr. Jackson and a group of Navy friends. Ms. Sturdivant then went to a barbecue and met up with her new boyfriend. The pair had plans to continue hanging out afterward, and they drove in their separate cars to his apartment off Armfield Circle. Ms. Sturdivant’s boyfriend parked outside his apartment and went inside while Ms. Sturdivant looked for another parking spot. From her vehicle, Ms. Sturdivant texted him to tell him that some of her friends from earlier were outside.
Soon after, Ms. Sturdivant texted her boyfriend again suggesting they leave his apartment and return to her housing on the naval base. Within minutes of that text, he heard several gunshots and ran outside to find Ms. Sturdivant mortally wounded in the passenger seat of her car. Ms. Sturdivant had also in that time period called another friend who heard an altercation take place before the call ended. Multiple people attempted to help Ms. Sturdivant while she drifted in and out of consciousness until medics arrived.
While Ms. Sturdivant was being transported to the hospital, she suddenly awoke, took the oxygen mask off her face, and said, “I know who shot me.” Ms. Sturdivant drifted out of consciousness again, and the medics resumed her oxygen treatment. The medics then asked Ms. Sturdivant who shot her, and she responded “Robert.” When asked for Robert’s last name, Ms. Sturdivant said “Jackson.” Upon their arrival at the hospital, Ms. Sturdivant removed the oxygen mask from her face again and asked, “Am I going to die?” Ms. Sturdivant underwent emergency surgery but succumbed to her injuries about eight hours after she was shot.
Mr. Jackson fled the Commonwealth to Florida immediately after the shooting. Based on their investigation, Norfolk Police detectives secured warrants for Mr. Jackson’s arrest for second-degree murder and using a firearm to commit murder.
In July 2021, law enforcement in Miami identified Mr. Jackson during a traffic stop and arrested him on the outstanding warrants for the offenses he committed in Florida unrelated to this case. Mr. Jackson was convicted of those offenses and served his time in Florida before he was extradited to Norfolk in February 2024. In July 2024, the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office secured a direct indictment from a grand jury against Mr. Jackson for first-degree murder.
On Aug. 30, Mr. Jackson entered an agreement to plead no contest, pursuant to the rule in Alford v. North Carolina, to second-degree murder and face an active prison sentence not to exceed 30 years. In exchange for Mr. Jackson’s Alford plea, the Commonwealth agreed to dismiss his other charges. Judge Mary Jane Hall accepted Mr. Jackson’s plea agreement and found him guilty.
On Friday, after hearing arguments from the prosecution and defense, Judge Hall sentenced Mr. Jackson to serve the maximum sentence allowable of 30 years in prison, plus two years of post-release supervision.
“Mr. Jackson killed Ms. Sturdivant out of jealousy, which means he killed her out of malice,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Ms. Sturdivant did nothing wrong, and Mr. Jackson did. He will now serve a long prison sentence. Unfortunately, nothing we can do will bring Ms. Sturdivant back. I grieve with her family and hope that they find some closure from the conclusion of this case.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott C. Vachris and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary Grace V. Godfrey prosecuted Mr. Jackson’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Kyle D. Austin and former Detective Matthew J. Walsh led the investigation.
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