Sutton’s attorney, Ari Stein, confirmed his client had decided to drop out but didn’t offer a reason for the change of heart. The decision leaves Sutton’s opponent, Mark Bohenstiel, as the only candidate who will appear on the November ballot. Incumbent Jessica Owens is not seeking reelection.

Sutton’s decision came shortly after Virginia Beach Circuit Court Judge Afshin Farashahi declined a request from Bohenstiel for an emergency order that would have prevented Sutton’s name from being included on the ballot as the registrar’s office prepares to send out mail-in ballots and begin early voting next week. Bohenstiel filed a lawsuit last week in which he claimed Sutton had failed to meet all the requirements needed to be eligible to run.

Farashahi’s ruling on Monday, however, was only a temporary measure until a trial on the matter could be held. No trial date was set, but it would have been held before the election.

Bohenstiel’s case centers on the petitions Sutton submitted to qualify for the race. Candidates had to obtain 125 valid signatures from qualified voters in the district. While Bohenstiel’s lawsuit didn’t challenge the authenticity of the signatures, it did question the dates included with some of them, as well as the process followed when the petitions were notarized.

During a hearing Friday before Farashahi, Sutton testified he did his best to follow all the rules for obtaining and submitting signatures. The retired teacher and school administrator said he dated the pages of signatures he collected as Feb. 3, which is when he began gathering them. Some, however, were obtained on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, he said.

A former student of Sutton’s who attends the University of Virginia helped collect signatures, along with two of his fraternity brothers, Sutton said. A notary public in Charlottesville who notarized the petitions submitted a written statement in which he said the petitions were signed before they were presented to him. In such cases, he wrote, the standard practice is to have the presenters swear to their signatures in the notary’s presence and then re-date them. They weren’t re-dated in this case, he said.

Farashahi said there wasn’t enough evidence presented at last week’s hearing to indicate whether Bohenstiel was likely to succeed at trial.

He also said that while Bohenstiel would suffer “irreparable harm” if Sutton’s name is included on the ballot at this time, and then he’s later determined to be ineligible, the harm to Sutton would be greater if he were kept off the ballot now and then were to prevail at trial.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Sutton, a retired Virginia Beach teacher and school administrator, is running for the board’s District 3 seat. His opponent is Mark Bohenstiel, a small business owner. Incumbent Jessica Owens is not seeking reelection.

Bohenstiel sued Sutton last week, and asked the court to keep Sutton off the ballot. Also named as defendants were the city, the voter registrar, and members of the electoral board.

Bohenstiel’s case centers on petitions Sutton submitted to qualify for the race. Candidates had to obtain 125 valid signatures from qualified voters in the district to be declared eligible. While Bohenstiel’s complaint doesn’t challenge the authenticity of the signatures, it does question the dates included with some of them, as well as the process followed when the petitions were notarized.

During a hearing Friday before Circuit Judge Afshin Farashahi, Sutton testified he did his best to follow all the rules for obtaining and submitting signatures. He said he dated the pages of signatures he collected as Feb. 3, which is when he began gathering them. Some, however, were obtained on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, he said.

A former student of Sutton’s who now attends the University of Virginia helped collect signatures, along with two of his fraternity brothers, Sutton said. Testimony during Friday’s hearing suggested the students signed off on the petitions they’d circulated before presenting them to a notary of the public, which is not the proper procedure.

Also on Friday, Virginia Beach Electoral Board Chairman Jeffrey Marks told the judge the board would need to know by Tuesday what names to include on the ballot. Mail-in ballots are scheduled to go out Sept. 16, and early voting is set to begin Sept. 20, he said.

Farashahi said he would announce his decision on the injunction request Monday. The ruling, however, is unlikely to end the matter. A trial is still expected to be held before the election, and Farashahi said whatever decision he makes next week could end up changing after more evidence is presented at trial.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

When the 66-year-old didn’t answer their knocks on his door Sunday, they entered through an unlocked door. Upstairs, one neighbor found Seitz bound and dead on the floor and called police, according to a criminal complaint filed this week in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

A cause of death wasn’t indicated in the court records and a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office didn’t respond Thursday to a request for information.

While working Sunday to clear Seitz’s townhouse on Roebling Lane, officers found a barricaded door, the complaint said. Once in, they found Seitz’s son, Seth. The 25-year-old had abrasions on his hands and legs, and one hand was sprained and swollen.

On Monday, Seth Seitz was charged with second-degree murder. He’s being held without bond in the city jail. Annette Miller, one of two public defenders appointed to represent him, declined to comment on the case Thursday.

Court records show Seth Seitz has been charged with attacking his father and mother on multiple occasions over the past seven years. He’s also been charged repeatedly with violating protective orders preventing him from having any contact with them, and has been ordered to undergo multiple psychiatric examinations to determine if he was competent to stand trial. In order to be competent for trial, a defendant must be able to understand the charges they face and help with their defense.

The first time police responded to Scott Seitz’s house for an alleged assault by his son was in July 2017, records indicate. The complaint in that case said Scott Seitz had thrown away some “baggies” while cleaning his son’s room. When Seth Seitz found out, he became angry, punched his father in the arm, then fled with his father’s cellphone, the document said.

The next incident occurred in June 2022 and involved Seth Seitz’s mother. In that case, police reported Seth Seitz had grabbed his mother, shaken her, then picked her up and threw her into a banister when she refused to go buy cigarettes for him. The mother obtained a protective order preventing him from having any contact with her afterward.

Man charged with 2nd-degree murder in death of his father, Virginia Beach police say

Two months later, Seitz’s mother reported that he’d punched and slapped her in the head multiple times, then prevented her from leaving the house or calling police. In addition to the alleged assault, Seitz was charge with violating a protective order and was ordered jailed.

While incarcerated, he called his mother multiple times to ask her to buy food, clothes, toiletries and cigarettes for him, which she refused, the documents said. He also asked if she knew how serious the charges against him were, and whether he was “going to prison for the rest of his life for doing nothing,” the complaint said.

He was again charged with violating a protective order by contacting her, the records show.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com 

Last week, Esteban Santillan, 19, was issued a summons charging him with petty larceny, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

On Tuesday, Chesapeake police announced the charge had been upgraded to stealing U.S. currency valued at $5.00 or more from a person. The crime is similar to grand larceny and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In such cases, the property must be under the immediate control or proximity to the victim, but is taken without violence or with minimal force.

A man stole $40 from a lemonade stand in Chesapeake. What happened next was overwhelming, the family said.

The theft occurred Aug. 14 on Bells Mill Road. Rebecca Caldwell, 10, and her brother, Josh, 8, were selling lemonade at the end of their driveway when a man pulled up in a car, approached them, then took off with a jar containing $40 that was on the table in front of them. The incident was captured by the family’s home security cameras.

After word of the theft spread, hundreds of people offered their support by buying lemonade from the siblings, or making a donation to them. As of last week, they’d collected more than $6,700.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

“He seemed really friendly,” Rebecca said. “He was smiling and saying how he thought it was really cool that we were doing a lemonade stand.”

But after the 10-year-old girl turned her back to pour the man a cup, he snatched the glass money jar she and her 8-year-old brother had placed on the table in front of them, and fled in his car.

Stunned and a little frightened, Rebecca started to go inside to get their mom. That’s when she saw her brother start toward the man’s car. Josh said he was “kind of mad” and was planning to get the license plate number when his sister stopped him.

The children’s mother, Annetta Caldwell, said she couldn’t believe what happened. She had just stepped inside for a moment when the theft occurred.

“I got really upset,” Annetta said. “I actually went outside and tried to find the guy. I got in my car and tried to chase after him but God told me to stop, turn around and call the police, and that’s what I did.”

Annetta Caldwell quickly realized the crime may have been recorded. Her husband, director of engineering at Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, recently installed a home surveillance camera on the fence behind where the children had been operating their stand, she said.

Turns out, the caper was captured on video. Even the smile on the man’s face as he walked toward the lemonade stand can be seen when zoomed in.

The Caldwells turned the footage over to arriving officers, and Chesapeake police announced Tuesday they’d made an arrest.

Esteban Santillan, 19, was charged with petty larceny. The crime is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. As of Friday, court paperwork had yet to be filed and Santillan’s trial date was not known. The Pilot was unable to reach him for comment.

Annetta Caldwell said surveillance footage showed the man drove past their house in a Toyota sedan three times that day.

“He’d been driving by and checking things out,” she said. “As soon as I went in (the house), he stopped the car and approached them.”

Annetta Caldwell posted the video and a description of the incident on the Nextdoor social media app to see if anyone could help identify the thief. The post was soon flooded with comments. Some commenters tagged WAVY TV, which then reported about the incident. The TV station also alerted its viewers that the children would be operating their lemonade stand again that Saturday to try to make up for the lost money.

What happened next was simply overwhelming, the Caldwells said. Hundreds of people on bikes, motorcycles, in cars and on foot stopped by to buy lemonade from the children, or simply make a donation.

Five fire trucks, an ambulance, and multiple police cars were among the vehicles that pulled up, they said. One couple gave the children $100 each. Within four hours they’d collected more than $6,000.

“It was amazing,” Annetta Caldwell said. “I started to cry when I saw how many people were supporting us. I felt very loved and I felt my kids were very loved, too. It was like we were in a movie.”

Checks fromaround the country also started arriving at the family’s house as more media outlets reported the incident. As of Friday, Rebecca and Josh had collected about $6,700 from last weekend’s stand, as well as the checks that were mailed, Annetta Caldwell said.

The children had been running their lemonade stand on a regular basis to save up enough money to buy a dirt bike for Josh and a four-wheeler for Rebecca, like their neighbors own and let them ride.

The pair plan to buy them soon with the money they’ve received, their mom said, and hope to put together a track on the 2 acres of land behind their home. Rebecca and Josh also plan to give some of the money to their older sister to support her mission works. The Caldwells have seven children in all.

The family said it’s been a whirlwind of emotions over the past couple of weeks, from the initial shock of someone brazenly stealing from a couple of young kids, to the heartwarming amount of support offered by strangers across the region and country.

“Oh yeah,” Rebecca, a fifth grader, said of the crazy turn of events, as well as all the attention she and her brother have received. “It’s been a lot, but it’s been really cool.”

As for future lemonade stands, Annetta Caldwell said she doesn’t expect her children to hold one anytime soon.

“We’re taking a little break,” she said.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Gary L. Moore initially was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of malicious wounding in the shooting, which left one person dead and two wounded. Moore’s trial began Tuesday in Norfolk Circuit Court.

After the prosecution and defense rested their cases Wednesday, Circuit Judge Jamilah LeCruise ruled the evidence wasn’t sufficient to support the charges. She reduced the murder count to voluntary manslaughter, and the two malicious wounding counts to unlawful wounding.

Man who killed 1, injured 2 in MacArthur Mall shooting claims self defense as trial gets underway

The jury deliberated for several hours Wednesday and Thursday before announcing it had found Moore guilty of both unlawful wounding charges, but couldn’t agree on the manslaughter count.

Defense attorney Kristin Paulding then asked LeCruise to throw out the manslaughter charge. The judge considered it, but denied it later that day and declared a mistrial on the manslaughter count.

Sentencing on Moore’s two unlawful wounding convictions was set for Oct. 18. The crime carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said his office plans to retry Moore on the manslaughter charge, but no date has been set. Moore, 41, remains jailed without bond in the meantime.

The shooting happened April 2, 2022, at the Lids hat store on the mall’s first floor.

Moore and friend Rashawn Johnson had first gone to the Creme321 clothing store on 21st Street in Ghent, where Johnson and another man, Deonte McKinney, got into an argument over money.

Moore and Johnson went to the mall afterward, and were in Cardi clothing store on the second floor when McKinney and several of his friends came in and confronted them. Store footage of the incident was played during the trial.

Moore and Johnson then went to Lids to pick up a hat Johnson had arranged to have embroidered. While they were there, McKinney’s uncle, 31-year-old Roosevelt McKinney Jr., entered the store and confronted them. Store footage of that incident also was played during the trial.

Moore testified in his own defense, and said Roosevelt McKinney was threatening to kill them, striking them, and trying to rob them. He also told jurors he could see a “bulge” at McKinney’s waistband indicating he had a gun.

Moore said he pulled out his own gun and began firing after McKinney backed them into a corner. McKinney was struck twice in the back and once in the leg as he ran. Two innocent bystanders — a man and a woman — each was shot in the leg.

McKinney made it out of the mall before collapsing next to a parked truck. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital. Paulding said a gun was found under the truck, and suggested to jurors that McKinney had thrown it there.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Dana Plummer, who also was injured in the Aug. 15 crash off a Maryland highway, was extradited on Wednesday to Virginia Beach, where he’s being held without bond in the city jail.

Plummer made his first court appearance via video Thursday in the city’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Judge Cheshire Eveleigh informed him of the many charges he faces, and scheduled a bond hearing for Friday. Among the counts against him is one accusing him of maliciously wounding a pregnant woman, and names his ex-wife as the victim.

After the hearing, Plummer agreed to be interviewed at the jail by reporters from The Virginian-Pilot and three local TV stations.

The series of events leading to his arrest began when Plummer allegedly stabbed his ex-wife and her 12-year-old daughter in their home, then fled with his sons, ages 7 and 5, and his 16-month-old daughter.

A statewide Amber Alert was issued, and Plummer’s vehicle was located hours later by state police in Northern Virginia. Officers attempted to pull him over, then followed him into Maryland, where he crashed into two other vehicles. Plummer’s daughter was pronounced dead after being flown to a children’s hospital, and he and his sons were taken to hospitals for treatment.

In Thursday’s interview, Plummer made a series of unsubstantiated claims, including that he was trying to protect his children. He said he was heading to his aunt’s home in Washington when the crash occurred, and that his daughter was in a child safety seat in the backseat, and both sons were wearing seat belts. He also said he prays his boys are safe, and that his daughter is now with his own mother, who also is deceased.

Virginia Beach court records show local police became concerned about Dana Plummer in March, when he was seen displaying “paranoid” behavior while armed with a shotgun in a restaurant with his sons. Officers sought a court order that would require him to hand over any firearms he had, and to prevent him from purchasing or possessing them. A judge later granted the order, and Plummer voluntarily surrendered four guns.

On Aug. 2, Plummer’s 14-year career with the Navy ended when he was “separated” from the service. A Navy spokesperson declined to say whether it was a voluntary or involuntary action. Plummer said on Thursday that he was never notified of the action.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Gary L. Moore, then 39, was at the downtown mall with a friend shopping for a last-minute wedding present for his best friend when the shooting occurred on April 2, 2022, attorney Kristin Paulding told jurors in Norfolk Circuit Court.

Moore was later charged with second-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding and three firearms charges, and has been held without bail since he turned himself in several weeks after the shooting. His trial is expected to last three to four days.

Moore and friend Rashawn Johnson had first gone to the Creme321 store on 21st Street in Ghent that day, where they saw Deonte McKinney, Paulding said. Johnson and McKinney had “some kind of beef over money” and began to argue, the defense lawyer said. Moore and Johnson then left for the mall.

“Gary doesn’t want any trouble,” Paulding said of her client. “He has some place to be. He has a big event that night.”

Moore and Johnson were in the Cardi clothing store on the mall’s second floor when McKinney and five other men came in and a fight broke out, Paulding said. The other men blocked the door as Moore and Johnson tried to leave, but the two eventually got out and headed to the Lids hat store on the first floor, where Johnson was having a hat embroidered.

While they were in Lids, McKinney’s uncle, Roosevelt McKinney Jr., 33, came in with a hoodie pulled over his head and a mask on his face, Paulding said. He was trying to rob Johnson and Moore when Deonte McKinney came in and joined him, she said.

The McKinneys had the two men backed into a corner, and were hitting them when Moore pulled out a gun, the defense lawyer said.

Roosevelt McKinney, who Paulding claimed also was armed with a gun, was struck three times as he ran away. Two bystanders outside the store, a man and a woman, also were shot. McKinney died shortly after arriving at a hospital.

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily Woodley told the panel the shooting was unjustified, and that it was Moore who escalated the fight by pulling out a gun. Woodley played surveillance video from Lids that showed the fight breaking out, and customers and employees hurrying to get out of the store.

An off-duty Virginia Beach police officer who was in the mall with his family aided the female victim by helping her get out of the building and applying a tourniquet to her leg, the prosecutor said. The male victim suffered a broken leg, she said, and had to hop on one foot to get away.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Anthony Leonard Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder at the start of Monday’s hearing in Chesapeake Circuit Court. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, first-degree murder and stabbing charges against Johnson were dismissed, and Judge Marjorie T. Arrington sentenced him to 22 years and 11 months in prison.

The body of Valarie McElroy, 58, was found Nov. 27, 2022, in her apartment near the intersection of Battlefield Boulevard and South Military Highway, according to a statement of facts entered into evidence.

Earlier that day, Johnson had gone to a Chesapeake Food Lion store at which McElroy worked, the statement said. McElroy told co-workers she didn’t want to talk to him. When Johnson refused to leave, a supervisor told him to go or the police would be called.

Later that same day, McElroy was on a video call with a friend when she said she had to get off because Johnson was there, the statement said. After McElroy later failed to pick up a friend as scheduled, and her brother and others were unable to contact her, they called police.

Officers got an apartment manager to let them in after McElroy failed to respond, and had to work their way past furniture and other items blocking her door. Once they got in, they found McElroy lying dead on the floor, and Johnson on a bed covered in blood, with a knife nearby. His wounds were later determined to be self-inflicted and superficial. An autopsy showed that McElroy died from multiple stab wounds.

“It has affected us in a way we’ll never get over,” McElroy’s brother, Rodney Blount, testified Monday. “It was such a senseless crime.”

McElroy’s two daughters, who live out of state, wrote letters to the court about how they’ve suffered since her death. They described their mother, who was both hearing and vision impaired, as someone who “loved big” and had “a heart of pure gold.”

Just a week before she died, McElroy told one daughter that she was ready to leave Virginia because she was afraid of Johnson, and how he wouldn’t stop stalking her.

“She was afraid and I was afraid for her,” daughter Lynthis McElroy wrote. “When I think back to the fear that my mother expressed to me the last time we spoke, I cringe.”

Johnson, who also is hearing impaired, said through a sign language interpreter Monday that he was sorry for what he’d done.

“I really loved Valarie,” Johnson said. “I did not intend to murder her. It just happened.”

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Imani Monet Adams, 30, pleaded guilty to four counts of embezzlement and four counts of forgery, according to a news release from the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop several similar charges against Adams. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 18.

The thefts occurred between late 2018 and early 2019 while Adams was working at a Wells Fargo bank in the Janaf area. Adams forged the 85-year-old customer’s name on 16 withdrawal slips, the release said.

The customer eventually noticed the missing money and notified the bank. The bank conducted an investigation, determined Adams was responsible, and contacted police, the release said. The bank also restored the full amount to the woman’s account.

The plea agreement requires that Adams repay the bank.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com