NORFOLK, Va. — Ziontay Palmer was "calm" in the hours after a mass shooting in Norfolk according to his mother, stepfather, and police. The shooting, which took place on Nov. 3, 2021, left three women dead and two injured. It happened in the Young Terrace community.
Prosecutors and the two surviving women say Palmer was the shooter. He's now standing trial.
In the courtroom Thursday, commonwealth attorneys asked investigators to add detail to the timeline from the day of the shooting.
It started at roughly 6 p.m. That's when neighbors reported gun shots in the Young Terrace neighborhood.
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Survivors point to defendant as shooter in Norfolk's Young Terrace mass shooting
Angel Legrande and Shazelle Dixon were injured in the shooting and taken to the hospital. Nicole Lovewine, Detra Brown, and Sarah Costine died in the incident.
Police began looking for evidence and the shooter.
Investigators said they found a black car owned by the defendant's relative on scene. Nearby the car they said they found the murder weapon — a black and silver gun — on the ground. Defense attorney Eric Korslund confirmed that the second officer who arrived on scene picked up the weapon for roughly 15 minutes.
By 6:10 p.m., police said they were looking into a report that someone tried to steal a white car roughly 100 yards away from the shooting scene. Body camera footage shows officers stop Palmer a short distance from the white car.
After a brief search of his person, the officer testified the Palmer was "calm and cooperative." They let him go.
Police said they then collected a brown hoodie roughly 50 feet away from the white car.
Next, a different officer stopped and released a "calm" Palmer roughly a mile away from the shooting scene. That officer said he had been told Palmer was cleared in the earlier stop.
"I let him go because officers ran the info already," Norfolk officer Joel Cavazos testified.
Around that same time, officers met Legrande and Dixon in the hospital. Officer C Dupre testified Dixon couldn't speak due to her injuries but Legrande told him Palmer, who she was having a baby with, was the one who shot her.
At some point Palmer's mother Latoya Palmer and stepfather Tracy Lewis spoke with their son at home.
"He was normal," his mother Latoya Palmer testified.
They estimated the time to be around 6:30 p.m., but didn't know for sure.
"I had been in the shower [before seeing Palmer that evening]. I didn't note the time," said Lewis.
"It was dark out," added Latoya Palmer.
They said they informed Palmer his pregnant girlfriend, Angel Legrande, had been injured and others killed in a shooting in the Young Terrace area.
The family said they decided to meet with police.
"I said Tay (Ziontay) we gonna do what's right and go to DOC. I said we're just going to clear your name," said Latoya Palmer.
"Mr. Palmer wore the same shoes to the police station as when he was stopped by police," confirmed defense attorney Korslund.
Police said the meeting between police and Palmer was at 8:45 p.m.
In the days following the shooting, investigators searched the black car found at the scene and the white car found a short distance away.
The black car, they said, contained Palmer's cell phone. The white car, they said, contained a pink backpack with Palmer's name written on it.
A video investigators pulled from the cell phone was played before the courtroom Thursday. The video depicts a man wearing a brown hoodie pointing a black and silver gun at the camera.
Homicide detective Jaemal Davis compared the gun to the suspected murder weapon.
"In my professional opinion I'm comfortable saying that's the exact same gun," Davis testified.
Davis also compared the sweatshirt seen in the video to the one collected near the white car.
"This appears to be the same symbol depicted on the sweatshirt," Davis testified.
Korslund pressed Davis about the evidence collected on scene.
"You didn't submit [the evidence] for DNA testing or forensics? There was no testing on the hoodie? You agree there's no scientific evidence beyond what the naked eye can see to say that's the same gun [as the murder weapon]?" Korslund asked.
Investigators agreed they did not run DNA or fingerprint tests on the evidence.
After three days of trial, both sides rested their cases. Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday morning before the case is handed to the jury.
