A late Saturday morning turned tragic in Virginia’s quiet Northampton County, ending the life of 61-year-old Mocile Brickhouse, a woman known to some as “Mikki.” The incident, which unfolded at her home in the Birdsnest area, led to the arrest of her long-time boyfriend and left a community seeking answers.
The call came in to the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office at approximately 11:40 a.m. on September 26, 2026.
Deputies and emergency medical personnel were dispatched to a residence on Johnsontown Road for a report of a person with a gunshot wound. When they arrived, they found Mocile Brickhouse inside. Despite the efforts of Northampton County EMS, she was pronounced dead at the scene from a single gunshot wound.
The investigation quickly focused on Harrison Mapp, a 70-year-old man from the nearby town of Exmore. Court records later revealed that Mapp was Mocile’s boyfriend of six years. He was taken into custody by authorities in connection with the fatal shooting. According to Mapp’s statement to law enforcement, the shooting was an accident. He claimed he had a gun in his hand as he was entering the residence when Ms. Brickhouse met him near the door. He told authorities that she "swatted the barrel of the gun away, at which point the gun went off." During a pretrial interview, Mapp described his six-year relationship with Mocile as a "good one."
The Northampton County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by the Eastville Police Department, continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Following his arrest, Harrison Mapp was charged with felony homicide and reckless handling of a firearm. Later court disclosures indicated the charges could be presented as either accidentally killing his girlfriend or murder in the second degree while in the commission of a felony. The charge for his handling of the firearm was described as being "so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life."
Mapp was transported to the Eastern Shore Regional Jail, where he was ordered held without bond due to the nature of the incident. A preliminary hearing in the Northampton Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court was scheduled for December 16 to review the evidence in the case. Under Virginia law, a conviction for second-degree murder can carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
In the days following her death, family and friends gathered to remember Mocile Brickhouse. A visitation was held on the evening of Friday, October 2, at the Cornish-McCaskill Celebration of Life Center in Exmore. A funeral service took place at the same location the following afternoon, with arrangements handled by the Cornish Funeral Home of Cheriton.
The case against Harrison Mapp was set to proceed through the court system as of October 2026. The investigation into the precise events that led to the fatal gunshot on that September morning remained ongoing.
