NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Norfolk man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of 31-year-old Eddie Moet Jenkins and was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday.
Curtis E. Copeland Jr., 22, gave his plea in Norfolk Circuit Court in what was initially scheduled to be a pre-jury trial hearing. Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted his plea, and pursuant to the plea agreement, Copeland’s sentence included nine years suspended on conditions that he not have any contact with Jenkins’ family or any witnesses, and that he complete 10 years of uniform good behavior and five 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 in a statement. “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.”
Just before 1 a.m. on March 17, 2021, Norfolk Police responded to a gunshot victim report at a home in the 600 block of Wiley Drive, and found Jenkins dead from bullet wounds to his head, torso and legs, and a witness identified Copeland as one of multiple shooters. A police investigation indicated that Jenkins was armed with a handgun at the time of the shooting, but that Copeland, and not the victim, was the aggressor. Copeland was arrested a couple of hours after the incident.
