In the early morning hours of May 3, 2025, Renee Goode, 57, of Petersburg, was found unresponsive next to a car near a playground in the Thomas Rolfe Court area of Hopewell. Responding officers arrived about 6:45 a.m. after reports of shouting followed by a loud pop and found Goode with a fatal gunshot wound to the head; she was pronounced dead at the scene. This was the third homicide in Hopewell in 2025 and the second in three days, a string of violence that has alarmed local residents and parents.

Police say witnesses saw a gunman walk away from the scene after the shot, and shortly after the discovery they arrested 45-year-old Derek McPherson of Richmond. McPherson was charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; he is being held without bond at Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George County while the Criminal Investigation Unit continues its work. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact investigators.

Did anyone in the Thomas Rolfe Court area hear or see anything that morning that might help the investigation?