On the morning of July 15, 2020, 37-year-old Khamarl Mahs was shot inside an apartment at Hodges Manor Apartments on Cherokee Road in Portsmouth, Virginia. Responding officers found Mahs suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso; he died at the scene.

Police arrested 25-year-old Javon J. Simms that same day and charged him with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Investigators reported the incident arose from a monetary dispute: Mahs had entered the apartment where Simms’s girlfriend and their 11-month-old child were present, allegedly demanding payment. Simms testified he shot Mahs after Mahs became confrontational and reached for a gun; officers noted Mahs had a gun in his waistband and cash in his hand, and the firearm was later found to be unloaded.

Simms’s defense invoked the castle doctrine; the judge accepted self-defense and Simms was acquitted. Does anyone have information about the events at Hodges Manor Apartments that morning or knew Mahs or his movements before the shooting?