NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A judge denied bond for one of three defendants in the MacArthur Center shooting a year ago Friday.
D’Vegan Melvin, who appeared in court Friday, has already pleaded guilty to felony gang participation and misdemeanor assault and battery.
Melvin’s brother, D’Quan, will go to trial in the case later this month. A third defendant, Kevin Holloman, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in April.
Police said Holloman’s Facebook page was a “scrapbook of gang behavior” at a hearing last year. But the mother of the Melvin brothers denies her sons were involved in any gang.
“We’re always talking about the gang part of this,” said Kajeana Major outside the Norfolk courthouse Friday morning. “No, my sons were not a member of a gang, at all.”
About 2:30 p.m. last Valentine’s Day, the sound of gunfire had shoppers desperately hunting for cover. Police say it was a clash between rival gangs from Norfolk and Portsmouth. A fight broke out on the lower level near the former Nordstrom store, and shots were fired.
No one was killed but two people were wounded including Holloman.
Mainor and Jeremy Mason, attorney for D’Quan Melvin, told 10 On Your Side the fight was rooted in jealousy for D’Quan’s rap music career. Four people from Portsmouth — Shawn Mitchell and three juveniles — were arrested. Mitchell was sentenced to a year of probation for carrying a concealed weapon.
D’Vegan Melvin faces a maximum six years for the guilty plea, however his attorney Steven Washington hopes to get less than that because his client has no criminal record.
Washington says it was the best possible deal given the circumstances, however Mainor says her son was “under pressure and duress” when he agreed to plead guilty.
When asked if she was emotionally prepared for the possibility of both of her sons going to prison soon, she said she wasn’t.
“No I’m definitely not prepared for that. What I’m prepared for is to fight.”
