NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach man facing murder charges after three people — his girlfriend, a father figure and his cousin — were all recently found dead was arrested overnight in Hampton.
Police say 30-year-old Cola Beale was found in a home in Buckroe Beach just before midnight and arrested by the Hampton Police Division’s SWAT Team as part of a U.S. Marshal’s Task Force investigation. He is currently being held at the Virginia Beach City Jail.
He was wanted on a second-degree murder charge in connection with a recent homicide on Sewells Point Road in Norfolk, and wanted in connection to two recent homicides in Virginia Beach.
The U.S. Marshals Service announced on Tuesday a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Beale is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and arson in those two additional deaths.
According to police, the body of 32-year-old Downing McLean was found in a Norfolk home around 3:35 p.m. on Monday, March 28. McLean was pronounced dead at the scene. On Thursday, Norfolk Police confirmed he died from gunshot wounds.
Downing McLean‘s sister said she and her brother had a close relationship, and her brother loved gaming and loved to laugh. She says the two would often talk any time of the day.
But she says what makes it so hard to accept is the fact that her cousin, Beale, also had a close relationship with her brother.
“They grew up together. My aunt, who is [Beale’s] mother, we would all have cookouts and gatherings, and things of that sort, they were always together,” said Ashley McLean.
To her knowledge, Downing McLean never said anything about being in fear of his cousin Cola.
“He trusted him, just like a brother. That’s why it’s so hard to believe, and so shocking. It’s just a hard burden to swallow,” she said.
The first incident happened Thursday, March 24 in the 5500 block of Baccalaureate Drive in the Campus East area of Virginia Beach. Firefighters responded to a call at 7:30 p.m. reporting a fire at that location.
A deceased person, identified Monday as 31-year-old Czavi’er Hill, was found in the Baccalaureate Drive home. Although the house was on fire, police said she died from a gunshot wound.
A pet also died that night at the home.
Police confirmed Beale and Hill had dated. Ashley McLean remembers seeing Hill and Beale together at family gatherings.
“She was a very sweet girl. She would come to the cookouts and they would be there with the family,” she said.
Police also say a fatal shooting on Linda Court is under investigation.
On Friday, officers were called to check on the welfare of a person at a home in the 700 block of Linda Court.
When they arrived, officers found 73-year-old Clifton Baxter dead from a gunshot wound.
Ashley McLean said Baxter was a father figure for Beale and helped to raise him.
Beale is a convicted sex offender. He pleaded guilty to sexual battery involving a minor in 2018. The U.S. Marshals Service says Beale has a history of possessing firearms.