Norfolk Man Pleads Guilty to 2021 Murder, Sentenced to 13 Years

NORFOLK, Va. – Today, 22-year-old Curtis E. Copeland Jr. pleaded guilty to and agreed to serve an active 13 years in prison for the second-degree murder of 31-year-old Eddie Moet Jenkins.

Just before 1 a.m. on March 17, 2021, Norfolk Police responded to a report of a gunshot victim at a home in the 600 block of Wiley Drive and found Mr. Jenkins dead from bullet wounds to his head, torso, and leg. A witness identified Mr. Copeland as one of multiple shooters. The police investigation determined that Mr. Jenkins was armed with a handgun at the time of the shooting but that Mr. Copeland, and not the victim, was the aggressor. Officers arrested Mr. Copeland later that day.

In what was initially scheduled to be his pre-jury trial hearing on Friday, Mr. Copeland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Norfolk Circuit Court, and Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted his plea. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Judge Rigney sentenced Mr. Copeland to 13 active years in prison, with another nine years suspended on the conditions that Mr. Copeland not have any contact with Mr. Jenkins’ family or any witnesses and that he complete 10 years of uniform good behavior and 5 years of supervised probation.

“Contrary to what some people think, just because a person involved in an argument is armed does not give others a license to kill,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Copeland had no legal excuse for shooting the victim, and his plea holds him accountable for this murder. My condolences go to Mr. Jenkins and his family.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Shavaughn N. Banks and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Melinda F. Seemar prosecuted Mr. Copeland’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth.

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