NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — After finding three men dead in a home on Stallings Court in a neighborhood near Fort Eustis, Newport News police have confirmed that they were shot to death.
Just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday, August 8, NNPD said officers responded in less than a minute after someone called about shots fired. When they got to the home, located at 429 Stallings Court, officers found three adult men who were pronounced dead at the scene, NNPD said.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, Chief Steve Drew of the Newport News Police Department held a press conference, where he confirmed that the three men were shot to death.
Newport News police have identified the men as 61-year-old Alvin Eugene Holiday of Williamsburg, 60-year-old Monroe McGilvary Jr., also of Williamsburg, and 36-year-old Derek Rico Jones, Sr., of Newport News.
Derek Jones' ex-wife shared photos of him with News 3, and said he leaves behind children.
“No matter what happens in life, no body deserves to be murdered, to have their life taken from them…it’s nobody’s call to play God," said Jennifer Jones-Futrell, mother of Derek Rico Jones's children. “I want to know what happened, I want to know who murdered him, my babies just lost their dad, their siblings just lost their dad. I don’t care what the reason was, he didn’t deserve to die."
Chief Drew said there were no signs of forced entry and all three men were inside the home when they were shot. He also said children live at the home, but they were not present when the shootings occurred.
The department recovered a lot of evidence from the home, Chief Drew said. He added that among the evidence was cocaine and marijuana, and police believe the homicides were drug-related.
“This is not just a random act not just someone that’s running around, and selected a house and and broke in a door and something tragic happened," said Chief Drew.
While at the home, officers got a female out of the residence, who has since been questioned. Chief Drew did not disclose what she shared with law enforcement.
He shared that this is not the first time officers were called to the residence: there were seven previous calls to service at the home in the last year, including at least one for stolen vehicles.
Neighbors, however, were shocked that something like this could happen.
“What happened last night is totally out of character for this neighborhood, the folks next door to us seemed as normal as American pie," said neighbor Antonia Burton.
Chief Drew said they’re still investigating and looking for more evidence, including video from a Ring camera. Federal agencies, including the DEA and the FBI, have offered to assist in the investigation.
The autopsies will be performed later on Tuesday, according to Chief Drew.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
