A Virginia man has been charged in connection to a shooting that left two people injured and three others dead, including an on-call local reporter.
According to the Virginia-Pilot, 24-year-old Antoine M. Legrande Jr. was taken into custody this week for his alleged role in the March incident. The shooting took place around 1:30 a.m. on March 19, when a fight broke out near a Norfolk bar as patrons were beginning to leave. The altercation, which was reportedly sparked by a spilled drink, quickly escalated into gunfire. Sierra Jenkins, a 25-year-old reporter who wrote for the Pilot and the Daily Press, was caught in the crossfire and suffered life-threatening gunshot wounds. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly after.
It was previously reported that Jenkins was on call to cover breaking news at the time of the shooting. Her editor said he made several attempts to contact her about the story, completely unaware she was one of the victims.
“When he didn’t hear back, we called in another reporter,” Kris Worrell, editor-in-chief of Virginia Media, told CNN. “In reporting the story of the shooting, we discovered that Sierra was one of the victims.”
Legrande Jr. has been charged five counts of use of a firearm, two counts of malicious wounding, and three counts of second-degree murder. He’s being held without bond.
“For our family, going through what we’re going through — two months without knowing who’s behind something like this is — it’s eating us up,” Jenkins’ father, Maurice Jenkins told the Pilot, adding he still has questions about the case. “I don’t believe that’s really what this is about. I won’t be surprised if we start hearing that there’s a lot more to what caused this to happen than a spilled drink.”
