Commonwealth's Attorneys say he was beaten to death with his own gun by a mob of young men.
Now, four months after the crime, the death of 77-year-old Charles “Chick” Silva is finally being called a murder.
The Vietnam veteran was hunting on property he took care of around the Hampton Roads Executive Airport back in September, when he ran into a group of young men on ATVs.
Silva told them they were trespassing--defense attorneys even say he pointed a gun in the face of one of the boys.
That’s when the group attacked Silva, managing to grab the gun from him, bludgeoning him with it, according to prosecutors.
One of the young men there was 21-year-old Kyle Langreder; he turned himself into police after the beating.
His family says he didn't take part in the attack, but was there, and wanted to do the right thing by coming forward.
Police first charged him with malicious wounding by mob, but at that point, Chick Silva was still alive.
The Vietnam vet passed back in October, and prosecutors say a preliminary autopsy report showed the beating caused his death.
Monday in court, Commonwealth Attorney's alerted Langreder he will now be charged with murder.
Prosecutors do admit there are two other suspects in the case, but they have not yet been arrested.
Investigators say they are still building their case against them.
