Man involved in group beating in Norfolk gets 13 years

NORFOLK

A man involved in a beating at a child's birthday party in Lafayette Park was sentenced Thursday to 13 years in prison.

Sentrell Copeland, 22, pleaded guilty to malicious wounding by a mob in a 2010 attack on Darren Gray before dozens of witnesses. Circuit Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. sentenced Copeland to 10 years on the felony and three years for a probation violation.

A group of men approached Gray in the afternoon of May 8, 2010, near a picnic pavilion, according to court records. Gray was celebrating his son's birthday with his family.

One of the men took a young child from Gray's arms and handed the infant to its mother, according to an account filed with the court. The men surrounded Gray and began to shove and kick him. One man struck Gray in the head with a vodka bottle, court records state.

One or more people shot Gray as he lay on the ground, the court records say.

The assailants and witnesses fled as police approached in their vehicles, court records state. Gray, 24, was found dead at the scene.

Three other men are charged with participating in the beating. No one has been charged with murder in the case, and witnesses have been reluctant to testify.