A Norfolk jury has convicted 74-year-old Leroy Frank King of second-degree murder after he shot and killed a man who mistakenly knocked on his apartment door last summer in the Ocean View neighborhood.
According to prosecutors, the victim, 38-year-old Albert Patrick Johnson, had intended to visit a neighbor in the 2900 block of Pleasant Avenue on June 20, 2023. But he accidentally knocked on King’s door instead—twice. The second time, King confronted Johnson outside with a gun and shot him twice, hitting him in the neck and torso.
Johnson died at the scene. King, who remained inside for a short time after the shooting, was arrested after coming out of his apartment.
At trial this week, King pleaded not guilty and chose to have his case heard by a jury. That jury didn’t take long to convict him on both counts: second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder.
The case has rattled residents in the Ocean View community—where quiet evenings near the Chesapeake Bay are the norm, not gun violence. Many neighbors have been left asking how a simple mistake could lead to such a tragic and irreversible outcome.
King is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 by Norfolk Circuit Judge Tasha D. Scott.