Ashford Aaron Carter, 39, was found with a life-threatening gunshot wound outside the Ivy Towers apartment building on Waterfront Circle in Newport News in the early hours of September 18, 2023. He was taken to a hospital but did not survive. Carter is identified as Black/African American.

Authorities arrested 30-year-old Newport News resident Quashawn Lamonte Cooper in connection with the shooting. Court documents show Cooper was charged with second-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Cooper told police he acted in self-defense, saying Carter was intoxicated, refused to leave an apartment, and was shot in the shoulder after Cooper tried to get him to leave. Surveillance footage from the apartment building is reported to have captured Cooper and another person moving Carter’s body out of the apartment after the shooting.

What additional details or witnesses might help clarify the timeline inside the apartment and what happened immediately before the shooting?