On the evening of June 1, 2024, 26-year-old Martez Johnson Corey, known to some as 1 Tez or Marty, was sitting on the front porch of his cousin’s home in the 500 block of Old Buckroe Road in Hampton, Virginia when gunfire erupted. Police arrived just after 7:30 p.m. and found Martez with life-threatening gunshot wounds; first responders’ attempts at life-saving measures failed and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Some of the bullets penetrated the house, which was occupied by several teenagers at the time.

The Hampton Police Division Major Crimes Unit led the homicide investigation. Nearly 10 months later, in March 2025, authorities located and arrested two Hampton brothers, J.C. Alexander Butler, then 25, and Re’al Butler, then 24, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. The brothers were charged in connection with Martez’s death and were tried in Hampton Circuit Court.

After a four-day trial prosecuted by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office along with local prosecutors, a jury in March 2026 found both J.C. and Re’al Butler guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, use of a firearm in a felony, and maliciously shooting into an occupied building. Sentencing for both men was scheduled for June 12, 2026.

Did anyone in the community know Martez or witness activity near Old Buckroe Road that night?