Hundreds of mourners pay their respects at detective's wake

VIRGINIA BEACH

Hundreds filed through Rock Church on Monday to pay their respects to an undercover Virginia Beach detective slain last week.

As mourners walked into the sanctuary, photos of Detective Michael Smith Phillips flashed across large screens on either side of the altar.

Some showed him in uniform, first as a patrol officer in Hampton, where he spent three years, and then in Virginia Beach, where he worked for the past six. Most images featured Phillips with his wife, Terri, or their two sons, ages 7 and 10. Phillips, who was shot and killed Thursday during an undercover operation, is to be buried today at Rosewood Memorial Park, after a 1 p.m. funeral service at Rock Church, 640 Kempsville Road.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to file capital murder charges, said Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant. If they do, it would be through a grand jury indictment, he said.

Ted Vincent Carter, 23, and Marshall Demetrius Moyd, 26, both of Virginia Beach, are charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and violating the Drug Conspiracy Act.

Court records show investigators believe that Moyd and Phillips were in the detective's pickup negotiating a drug transaction when Carter walked up and shot Phillips three times.

Officials said Monday that Carter had been transferred to Portsmouth City Jail and Moyd had been moved to Chesapeake Correctional Center. Both were being held without bond.

Moyd's sister, Marshena, said in a phone interview Monday that she didn't believe her brother was capable of murder. She said Moyd called a family friend after being arrested and said he didn't know Carter was going to shoot Phillips.

Police announced three ways to offer donations to Phillips' family:

- Deliver a check made payable to "Terri Phillips" to any of the city's four police precinct offices.

- Donate money to Account No. 122695 at Beach Municipal Federal Credit Union branches at 4164 Virginia Beach Blvd., or 2476 Nimmo Pkwy., Suite 122.

- Mail a check, payable to FOP No. 8, with "Michael Phillips" written in the memo section, to Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 8, P.O. Box 6102, Virginia Beach, Va., 23456.

Pilot writer Duane Bourne contributed to this report.

Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com