Chesapeake man guilty in deadly beating in Norfolk

NORFOLK

A jury convicted a Chesapeake man Tuesday of malicious wounding in a midafternoon mob beating in Lafayette Park.

Prosecutors said Michael Mario Moore was one of about a dozen men, members of the Bloods gang, who fatally attacked Darren Gray outside a picnic pavilion at Lafayette Park, also known as City Park near the Virginia Zoo.

The mob punched and kicked Gray to the ground, struck him with a glass vodka bottle and fired several shots into his body as witnesses watched in horror, according to testimony in the three-day trial.

The case has frustrated Gray's family because witnesses have been reluctant to come forward, fearing gang retribution. A police officer testified that when he arrived at the scene, more than 30 people were fleeing the park as Gray lay lifeless near a picnic shelter.

One other man, Sentrell Copeland, pleaded guilty to the beating. No one has been charged with murder.

Moore, 26, was convicted of malicious wounding by mob. The jury recommended an eight-year sentence. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April.

Prosecutor Asha Pandya told jurors they had clear evidence that Moore joined in the mob attack. She suggested a long sentence because of the viciousness of crime.

Defense attorney Kenneth Singleton argued that a key prosecution witness, Gray's cousin, was unreliable and testified to help himself get out of felony charges.

On May 8, 2010, Gray went to the park with family to celebrate the birthday of one of his children, according to trial testimony. It was a sunny spring afternoon and scores of people were in the park.

Jamaal Dowling, Gray's cousin, testified that as he walked toward a picnic area, he spotted Gray surrounded by a group of men. Many wore white shirts and belonged to the Bloods gang, he said. Dowling said he grew up with several of the men and knew them well.

The men started to punch Gray until he fell on the ground, then continued to kick him all over, Dowling testified. Two men left the group, grabbed guns from a vehicle and returned to fire several fatal shots into Gray, he said. Gray was 24.

Dowling testified that he saw Moore involved in the attack. Under cross-examination by Singleton, Dowling acknowledged he had misidentified another person at the beating.

Dowling testified he moved out of state because he feared testifying against gang members.

Roycinda Alexander, Gray's mother, said she was relieved by the conviction but wanted the senseless violence to end. "This has become an epidemic," she said. "I don't like that."

Louis Hansen, 757-446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com