Man convicted in 2007 Beach nightclub shooting

VIRGINIA BEACH

A jury recommended a 93-year sentence for a Norfolk man who was convicted Tuesday in connection with a double shooting outside a nightclub in 2007.

Steven A. Breaux, 25, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of use of a firearm in those offenses. His sentencing is scheduled for May 26.

Breaux had been charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, Portsmouth Sheriff's Department Deputy Hector Diaz, but was convicted of the lesser charge. Diaz was off duty at the time.

Prosecution witnesses identified Breaux and his co-defendant in the case, Charles L. Butler, as those who pulled guns outside a nightclub called Oceans Cabaret after they were asked to leave on Jan. 15, 2007.

Mark Van Horn, 24, accompanied the men outside the club after a waitress complained about them.

He was shot once in the head.

"You're angry you're getting kicked out of a club and you pull out a gun," prosecutor Joseph DiNonno said.

Meanwhile, Michael Porter, 26, had arrived with a group of friends, but they quickly decided to leave the club because they didn't see anyone at the front desk.

Breaux and Butler were running away and fired into a crowd of people, prosecutor Vena Sanders said.

Porter was shot twice as he walked between two parked cars.

Diaz, who testified that he was with Van Horn when he accompanied Breaux and Butler out of the club, said he identified himself as a member of the Portsmouth Sheriff's Department.

He testified that Breaux and Butler shot at him and that he returned fire as they tried to leave in a car.

They eventually ran from the parking lot. Police found Breaux and Butler in the woods behind the nightclub shortly after the shootings.

They also found three guns linked to the crime scene in the woods near Breaux and Butler.

But defense attorney Melinda Glaubke said no physical evidence connected Breaux to the shootings.

She pointed out that eyewitnesses differed on who was with Van Horn when he was shot and about what the defendants were wearing at the time of the shootings.

Butler is scheduled for trial March 9.

Jen McCaffery, (757) 222-5119, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com