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Former Portsmouth city employee investigated in the murder of his supervisor, records state

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PORTSMOUTH, Va. - A former Portsmouth employee was investigated as a suspect in the murder of his former supervisor – according to court records.

On Thursday News 3 uncovered new details surrounding the death of Willie Allen.

Portsmouth Police said no one has been arrested for his murder and they began investigating Allen’s murder on January 10 just before 10 in the morning.

The 56-year-old was found dead near a pump station on Race Street – shot multiple times.

He was called to the location for an alarm that went off that required immediate attention, according to records.

Records indicate the suspect’s footprints led straight to a nearby convenience store and surveillance video showed a man dressed in all camouflage leaving the crime scene.

There was snow covering the ground the day of the shooting.

Records state the man was identified as the ex-boyfriend of the victim’s step-daughter and that he had been at the victim’s house earlier that morning.

Allen had previously asked the man to stay away from his step-daughter because she had moved on and there were allegations of previous abuse, the records said.

The suspect apparently worked with Allen for the city of Portsmouth and he had “intimate knowledge of the pump station’s operations."

Records state the suspect was fired for unknown reasons and that Allen was his supervisor.

Stephanie Allen-Perry said, “He was a dad first, but he loved that job so much.”

News 3 previously spoke to Allen's biological daughter who lives out of state.

Relatives said he loved his job with the city and that he would never hurt or bother anyone.

“He loved everybody and everybody loved him, to think about somebody that would harm him I'm drawing a blank, we don't know,” said Allen-Perry.

Records state that Allen’s cell phone and other personal items were taken by the person who killed him and it’s believed that text messages were sent from his phone after he was dead.

“We love him, we miss him, we need justice for him,” said Allen-Perry.

We asked Portsmouth Police if the former coworker is still a suspect and we have not heard back.

Related:

Family, community remembers Portsmouth city employee killed while on the job