A call reporting a person with a gunshot wound brought Virginia Beach Police to the 900 block of Thousand Oaks Drive on the evening of November 10, 2025. Officers found 34-year-old Markel Alexander Cephas, a resident of Chester, Virginia, with a fatal gunshot injury; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives identified 19-year-old Roberto Amir Inniss of Newport News as the primary suspect. Investigative technologies, including Flock Safety License Plate Readers, produced leads that helped police locate Inniss. With assistance from the Chesapeake Police Department, Inniss was taken into custody about nine hours after the shooting and was charged with murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

If anyone saw activity in the Thousand Oaks Drive area that evening or has information about Cephas’s movements before the shooting, please come forward.