NORFOLK, Va. — NORFOLK, Va. — A Smithfield man pleaded guilty Friday to selling a stolen gun to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh days before Jalloh used the gun to attack an ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University on March 12.
Kenya Mcchell Chapman pleaded guilty to one count of dealing guns without a license connected to the incident that left Lt. Col. Brandon Shah dead.
Shah was shot multiple times by Jalloh as he rose to defend his students; Jalloh, an ODU student, convicted felon, and former National Guardsman, was stabbed to death by the students who rose to defend Shah.
Watch related: ROTC students recount the moments Lt. Col. Shah was shot in classroom
In addition to an illegal gun dealing charge, Chapman also faced three counts from 2021 of making false statements when purchasing a firearm. He pleaded guilty to those charges, too.
The false statement charges from 2021 were initially dropped by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, but were resurfaced this year following Chapman's alleged involvement in supplying the weapon in the deadly campus shooting.
Watch related: ODU shooter re-enrolled under Virginia law that bans criminal history questions in college admissions
Chapman had initially entered a plea of not guilty in the days following the shooting.
The gun Chapman allegedly sold to Jalloh — who was a current ODU student at the time of the shooting with a criminal history for attempting to support ISIS — was a Glock 44 .22 caliber with the serial number filed off. Chapman allegedly took the gun from a car and sold it to Jalloh for $100, apparently not knowing how he intended to use it.
Court documents obtained by News 3 in March showed ATF was aware that Chapman had engaged in three straw purchases of guns — legally buying a gun and selling/giving it to someone who cannot legally purchase a gun.
Two of those guns were recovered by Newport News police in a homicide investigation, the documents show.
The documents also state that Chapman admitted to the straw purchases, admitted that he "did so for money," acknowledged his signature on the purchasing forms, and acknowledged that he had broken the law. He wrote an apology letter and was issued a warning by the ATF; he has never been convicted of a felony, the documents state.
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