Second man convicted of murdering Va. Beach officer

VIRGINIA BEACH

A jury Tuesday convicted a man of murder and robbery in the 2008 killing of an undercover police detective, and will return to court this morning to consider a sentence.

Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant said Marshall Demetrius Moyd, 30, should spend the rest of his life in prison. Moyd's attorney, Andrew Sacks, said the minimum 35 years his client faces is long enough.

Circuit Judge Patricia L. West, who presided over the four-day trial, will impose a sentence, although it cannot be for longer than jurors recommend.

Moyd is the second person convicted in the death of Detective Michael Phillips. Moyd's codefendant, Ted Vincent Carter, pleaded guilty in February to capital murder and is serving a life sentence without parole.

The prosecution and the defense agreed that Moyd arranged to sell a half-pound of marijuana to Phillips for $675 in the Green Run Square Shopping Center the night of Aug. 7. Both sides also agreed Carter pulled up to the pickup where Moyd and the plainclothes detective were discussing the drug deal and opened fire on Phillips.

Sacks argued Carter alone turned what was supposed to be a drug sale into a robbery and murder. Prosecutors maintained it was a setup by Moyd and Carter for robbery.

No marijuana was recovered, and a bookbag found in the SUV that both men drove that night contained a ski mask and a latex glove, according to trial testimony.

The jury deliberated about four hours Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning before returning guilty verdicts on all five counts Moyd faced, including three gun-related charges.

Attorneys presented additional evidence Tuesday afternoon before jurors began considering a sentence.

Bryant told the jury Moyd was convicted in Norfolk in 2002 of marijuana possession, brandishing a firearm and altering or removing a serial number from a firearm.

Friends and relatives of Moyd testified on his behalf, including a cousin, Elizabeth Brewster, with whom he lived at the time of Phillips' murder.

"No matter how this may look, he is not the monster he has been portrayed here today," she said. "He has a heart. It was a tragedy for the Phillips family. It was a tragedy for the Moyd family."

Brewster testified she sent Moyd a bus ticket to travel from South Carolina to Virginia Beach about a week before the killing. She said Moyd often stayed with her to help her care for her children.

The jury also heard from relatives of Phillips, including his widow, Terri.

She was just 16 when she met Phillips, who was one year older, she testified. They were high school sweethearts, attending their junior and senior proms together and marrying soon after graduation.

They had two sons together, now 10 and 13.

"I am wearing his ring today," Terri Phillips said. "It is the only closeness I have from our marriage."

This year would have been their 20th wedding anniversary, she said.

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5131, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com