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Case against men charged in Portsmouth Sportsplex homicide moves forward

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – The case against two men accused in a triple shooting outside the Portsmouth Sportsplex will go to a grand jury.

Cedric Davis Jr. 19, and D’Juan Jones, 20, each face several felony charges connected to the shooting, which happened on Feb. 1, 2022. They’re accused of killing 17-year-old Richard “Wink” Tucker and seriously injuring his mentor, Marcellus “Dee” Whitehead. Those charges were certified to a grand jury by a Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge on Thursday.

Richard Tucker’s little sister holds a memorial painting outside of the Portsmouth Judicial Center. Tucker was 17 years old when he was shot and killed at the Portsmouth Sportsplex. Cedric Davis Jr. and D’Juan Jones are charged with first-degree murder.

The pair were also accused of shooting and paralyzing a 15-year-old by in the same incident, but those charges were dismissed on a technicality. Although the boy is a juvenile, no witnesses testified to that fact during Thursday’s preliminary hearing. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office could refile those charges against Davis and Jones.

Whitehead testified that he took Tucker, the 15-year-old, and two others to the Sportsplex to play basketball. They were at the gym for a few hours when Whitehead got a call and needed to return home. Tucker and the 15-year-old were the first two people out of the gym door, and Whitehead was right behind them. As he was leaving the gym, he heard gunshots and started running.

He testified that a masked man followed him, shooting at him as he ran. He ran onto the front porch of a nearby home and tried to get someone to open the door to help him, but then an SUV pulled up and he saw Davis and Jones get out of it. He testified that Davis said they needed to “deal” with him, and Jones shot him with a pistol.

Whitehead was shot nine times and testified that he suffers from constant nerve pain and PTSD.