NORFOLK
A security camera video captured a slaying in the parking lot of the Platinum Club in October 2005.
The victim, Kaief L. Cooper, 21, was shot seven times. Four of the wounds were fatal.
Prosecutor Amy Cross argued Thursday that the man doing the shooting was Thomas Moyler Jr. Defense lawyer Michelle Atkins contends that Moyler was not the man on the video.
Jurors thought he was. They convicted Moyler of first-degree murder and use of a firearm after a three-day trial, and recommended that he be sentenced to life plus three years in prison. Sentencing has been set for February.
During her closing argument, Cross told jurors that the video shows Cooper and Moyler having a disagreement. Cooper had walked away from the fight, she said. Moyler pulled a gun and began shooting, striking Cooper several times in the back. Moyler continued firing even after Cooper fell, Cross said, with one shot fired from so close that it burned Cooper's skin. "That's how up close and personal this shooting was," Cross said.
Moyler then fled to Kentucky, Cross said, where he was arrested during a traffic stop. He punched an officer and tried to flee, Cross said. When an officer confirmed an outstanding murder warrant against him, Moyler swore at her and said "tell me something I didn't know I did."
Atkins said defense witnesses testified that Moyler had been at a birthday celebration that night. Atkins also told jurors that if they did not believe Moyler's alibi, that the killing was not first-degree murder because others, including the victim, had guns that night.
Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com
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