Virginia: Gunshot victim ID'd as suspected robber

Hampton, Virginia

From the Daily Press of July 5, 2008

Gunshot victim ID'd as suspected robber

A 19-year-old who was fatally shot Wednesday night was one of three men attempting to rob another man in the Liberty Estates apartment complex on Cunningham Avenue, police said.

The robbery at about 9:20 p.m. led to a struggle between the gunman, Maurice Edward Simpson of Newport News, and the victim, during which time Simpson was shot in the upper torso, said Hampton police spokeswoman Cpl. Paula Ensley.

The other alleged robbers are Dejon Jamal Middleton, 20, and Jamaal Orlando Watson, 21, both of the 700 block of Crossing Court in Newport News, police said. Middleton was charged with one count of robbery, one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of possession of marijuana. Watson was charged with one count of robbery and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Police had not released the name of the robbery victim Friday, and Ensley said he is not charged with a crime because at this point it is considered a justifiable homicide.

After Simpson was shot, Middleton and Watson took him to Sentara CarePlex, police said. Simpson was taken inside the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

People who lived in the area thought for a time that the shooting might be related to a power outage that occurred shortly afterward. Ensley said the outage, which lasted about two hours and affected an area from Armistead Avenue to the James River Bridge, was not related to the shooting.