VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The criminal prosecution of a man charged in the shooting deaths of two Norfolk menoutside a Virginia Beach nightclub last October will move forward, after a judge certified the charges in a preliminary hearing held Friday morning in Virginia Beach General District Court.
Norfolk-based attorney Eric Korslund told News 3 that his client, 27-year-old Trayvon A. McCoy of Norfolk, maintains he fired in self-defense.
"Mr. McCoy was arrested roughly 24 hours after the incident, waived his Miranda rights and gave full statements admitting to being the shooter in this case," Korslund said. "Mr. McCoy maintains that although he may not have seen a gun brandished at him, he was in fear of his life and fired in self-defense."
The Virginia Beach Police Department issued a news release after McCoy's arrest describing the preliminary findings of their investigation. According to the release, at around 11 p.m. on Thursday, October 28, 2021, VBPD officers responded to Club Allure at 470 Newtown Road for both a ShotSpotter alert activation and 911 calls reporting a shooting. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found two men suffering from gunshot wounds.
The two victims were later identified as 38-year-old William Moore and 33-year-old Joseph Moore, both of Norfolk. Police said the incident began with a "verbal dispute" inside the nightclub and escalated in the parking lot, where McCoy grabbed a gun from his vehicle and shot the two men, who were both pronounced dead by EMS personnel a short time later.
McCoy was arrested the next day at a hotel in the 5700 block of Greenwich Road. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Those charges will now go to Virginia Beach Circuit Court for grand jury proceedings.
McCoy remains in custody at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center, where he's been held without bail since his arrest.
