On April 25, 2015, 20-year-old Stratton Mitchell of Chesapeake was fatally shot during College Beach Weekend at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. According to reports, Mitchell and friends were escorting a female high school acquaintance to her car in the 2500 block of Atlantic Avenue around 3:16 a.m. when they encountered another group. An argument ensued and, after Mitchell reportedly knocked a member of the other group to the ground, 21-year-old Tevin Anyee Oliver drew a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun and fired, striking Mitchell in the back. Mitchell collapsed in a hotel parking lot and later died at a hospital.

Oliver was identified, arrested, and charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony; he was released on $25,000 bond. The case proceeded to trial, and Oliver was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to ten years with six years suspended, to be followed by supervised probation. Mitchell’s family and community remembered him as kind and caring; more than a hundred people attended a vigil in his honor in Chesapeake.

If anyone knew Stratton Mitchell or has information about the events that night, please share what can help provide clarity.