VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A jury has found Cola Beale guilty of all charges in the murders of two people in Virginia Beach.
Beale was on trial for killing his girlfriend, Czavier Hill, and a man he considered to be a father, Clifton Baxter, back in 2022.
Regarding Hill's death, Beale was convicted of aggravated murder, gun charge, abduction, arson of a dwelling, arson of property (car) and torture of animal to death. He was also found guilty of aggravated murder and a gun charge in the killing of Baxter.
Beale is expected to be sentenced in July. When the jury found him guilty on all counts, Beale had an outburst, saying, "Can we get this over with?" The judge then ordered a deputy to lead Beale out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
After the verdict, Beale gave a jailhouse interview with 13News Now where he said he thought he'd be immediately sentenced after his conviction and not have to wait several more months for it to be handed down.
"Now I gotta wait for another court date... I didn't know that was the process" Beale said.
During the trial this week, the defense did not bring a single witness forward, and Beale’s attorney told the judge that his client would not be taking the stand despite already admitting to both murders.
This means that after the prosecution rested, attorneys went straight into closing arguments and instructions for the jury.
After a short period of deliberation, the jury came back with a guilty verdict on all charges.
In a 2022 interview with 13News Now from jail, Beale admitted he killed his Hill, Hill's dog, and a man he considered to be his "pops," Baxter. Their deaths happened within days of each other after Beale said he reached a breaking point with stress.
Beale also said at the time that he did not feel any remorse for killing them. When he spoke with 13News Now following his conviction on Thursday, he said of the victims' families: "I know it's gonna take time, but hopefully ... they can do better and just heal and have better days."
Sworn police officers testified that when they caught Beale at his home in Hampton, he told the arresting officers it was good that they found him.
Beale allegedly said, "I was going to lay more people down, I had a nice little week run," and threatened to kill children.
During the trial, Beale did not say a word beyond answering the judge.
Beale also admitted to shooting a third victim in Norfolk, his cousin, Downing McLean. That trial is set to start in Norfolk in May.