NORFOLK, Va. — The trial for a more than decade-old murder is underway in Norfolk. This case dates back to June 10, 2011. That’s the day Norfolk Police found 20-year-old Chris Cummings shot to death in his home near Old Dominion University.
Rashad Dooley is the defendant on trial and faces several charges in Cummings’ death, and the shooting of his roommate.
Tuesday, September 13:
Jurors deliberated for about six hours on Tuesday, until Judge Michelle Atkins dismissed them around 5:30 p.m. Their deliberations will resume Wednesday.
During closing arguments Tuesday, the prosecutor told the jury Chris Cummings sold marijuana in his off-campus home near ODU.
She said Rashad Dooley went to Cummings’ house on the morning of June 10, 2011, to rob Cummings. But she said that robbery ended in Cummings death and the shooting of his roommate.
The prosecutor told jurors, "Threats, beatings and even the court being evacuated did not stop the truth from coming out in the court.”
On Friday, court proceedings came to a halt while Norfolk police officers investigated a bomb threat at the courthouse.
During Monday’s testimony an inmate told jurors he got beat up by people associated with Dooley for talking with investigators. The inmate told jurors Dooley talked to him in jail about the home invasion and death of Chris Cummings saying, "We were young when we did that, they just think I was the driver anyway.”
Dooley’s defense attorney argued this morning the inmate testimony is one of the only things that made this cold case warm again. He told jurors there is no other evidence that places Dooley at the scene of the crime.
He said the inmate’s incentive to cooperate is freedom.
The defense attorney said the prosecution’s case is full of speculations. He said there is no doubt a tragedy occurred in Cummings’ home but asked jurors not to let that tragedy overshadow Dooley’s innocence.
The prosecutor asked jurors to find Dooley guilty and bring Cummings and his roommate justice.
Monday, September 12:
The trial for Rashad Dooley is winding down in a Norfolk court. On Monday, the prosecution and defense rested.
Before the prosecution rested, two inmates took the stand.
One of the inmates testified he was incarcerated with Dooley and considered him a friend. He told jurors by testifying he is betraying Dooley.
He said Dooley talked to him about the home invasion and death of Chris Cummings and said, "We were young when we did that, they just think I was the driver anyway.”
The inmate claims in March a newspaper came to the jail with an article about the Cummings case. He said Dooley ripped it up and instructed inmates in other cell blocks to do the same.
Prosecutors showed a photo of the inmate with a black eye. He told jurors three men beat him up for speaking with investigators. The defense attorney pointed out the inmate asked for full immunity in his own cases. The prosecutor said the inmate hasn’t received help yet.
FBI Agent Wendell Consenza also took the stand to analyze Dooley’s phone records from the night of June 9, 2011, to the morning of June 10, when the murder happened.
Investigators said the murder happened around 4:30 a.m.
Agent Conenza said Dooley’s phone pinged off a cell tower near ODU at 1:49 a.m. on June 10. He said at 3:37 a.m., Dooley’s phone pinged off a cell tower in Hampton. He said the phone does not have any more records until it pinged again in Hampton at 5:47 a.m. He said the phone could have gotten turned off.
Norfolk police arrested four men in the crime last year, one of them being the defendant. A judge dismissed charges against Kwame Edwards and Ahmad Watson. The fourth man, Javon Doyle will have a retrial.
Court officials have established the four men knew each other.
Agent Consenza also talked about Edwards’ phone records from those dates.
He said the records show Edwards’ phone calling Dooley and Watson several times between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on June 10, while in Newport News.
Consenza told jurors Edwards’ phone pinged Norfolk at 4:13 a.m. He said then the phone pinged off the ODU cell tower at 4:15 a.m. and 4:36 a.m. He said Edwards' phone was back in Hampton around 5 a.m.
The defense attorney asked about the range a cell tower has. Agent Consenza said you have to be in the footprint of the cell tower to use it.
On Tuesday, court officials will give their closing arguments before the judge hands this case over to the jury.
Friday, September 9:
At the beginning of the trial date, Dooley's attorney motioned to exclude a witness from testifying. That witness is a current inmate at Norfolk City Jail on a separate conviction.
Attorney Eric Korslund told the judge he did not want to bring in the inmate because he did not have enough time to review his criminal records.
The judge gave Korslund time during the trial date to review the criminal record provided to him, but overruled his motion to exclude the witness entirely.
Later in the morning, the prosecution brought in an inmate from Norfolk City Jail to the witness stand. He told the court he knew Dooley from when they were both in Newport News City Jail years ago on different charges.
He testified Dooley asked him for advice regarding the Cummings case, saying he was concerned about what would happen.
The inmate said in the years between 2015 and 2017, Norfolk detectives called him in for questioning regarding the investigation. He said that's when he told them what Dooley said to him at the jail.
When the defense asked the inmate why he decided to tell investigators what Dooley told him years later, that's when bailiffs got word about a bomb threat to the courthouse, cutting the cross-examination short.
The building went into lockdown for more than two hours and no one was allowed to leave the courtroom. Security safely escorted everyone out.
About an hour later, Norfolk police cleared the scene and deemed the area safe again.
Court officials said they sent the jurors home for the day. All cases for Juvenile Domestic and Relations and General District Court were canceled for the day. Those cases, as well as the trial for Dooley, will resume on Monday.
Thursday, September 8:
Jurors heard from a long list of witnesses on Thursday, including key testimony from investigators and Chris Cummings’ roommate Jake Carey.
Carey was shot several times during the 2011 home invasion. He testified that hours before the shooting at their home, Cummings had a scare. He said Cummings called him in a panic and asked him to come home.
When he arrived, Carey testified he saw a red car in his driveway with two people inside. He said he saw Cummings arguing with a man on the front porch.
Last year, Norfolk police arrested Rashad Dooley and three other men in this case. Javon Doyle is awaiting a retiral and a judge dismissed charges against Kwaume Edwards and Ahmad Watson.
Court officials have said all four men are familiar with each other.
That night on the porch, Carey testified he saw Cummings arguing with Ahmad Watson.
Carey said when the three people left, Cummings told him they had been in his room and someone pulled a gun on him. Then Cummings asked them to leave the house.
During cross-examination, Carey told defense attorney Eric Korslund he couldn’t make out any identifying features of the red car in his driveway.
Court officials have said Cummings sold marijuana and kept cash in a lock box inside his home.
A college friend of Cummings and Carey also testified about an incident a month before the shootings. He said after Cummings showed marijuana to a few people, they left. He said a man came that same day and tried to get into the house with a gun. He said Cummings pushed him out.
Dooley’s attorney claims his client has no ties to this homicide case.
Wednesday, September 7:
The trial for the man accused of killing an Old Dominion University student in 2011 began Wednesday morning.
Jury selection took nearly three hours in the case of Rashad Dooley.
During opening statements, Norfolk Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Cynthia Collard told jurors investigators revived this cold case by getting key testimony, phone records and more.
When Defense Attorney Eric Korslund got up, he told jurors this case is as “blistering cold” as it was when the crime happened.
This case dates back to June 10, 2011. That’s the day Norfolk Police found 20-year-old Chris Cummings shot to death in his home near Old Dominion University.
Collard told jurors she’ll prove this is about an attempted robbery to get marijuana and money from Cummings' home. She told them Cummings sold marijuana.
She said the home invasion ended with Cummings getting shot in the face and stomach. Collard said his roommate Jake Carey also got shot five times but survived.
Norfolk police arrested four men in the crime last year, one of them being the defendant.
A judge dismissed charges against Kwaume Edwards and Ahmad Watson. The fourth man, Javon Doyle, will have a retrial in the case at a later date.
Collard said she intends to call inmates during this trial who will testify that Dooley told them he was involved.
Dooley’s attorney told jurors his client did not commit this murder. He said he will show evidence from cellphone records showing Dooley’s phone pinging off cell towers in Hampton around the time of the shootings.
Korslund showed photos of a pile of money and marijuana that investigators found in Cummings’ home following his death. He said it is complete speculation for prosecutors to say the crime happened for those items.
He said there is no doubt a murder took place, and the evidence of the bloody scene will show that. But he said his client isn’t responsible.
Cummings’ father, James Cummings, also took the stand on Wednesday. He broke down looking at photos of his son and talking about his outgoing nature to jurors.
Then Cummings’ girlfriend took the stand and told jurors Cummings told her he felt uneasy just before his murder.