Courtney Dewayne Thomas, 30, was shot and killed at work on October 2, 2018, at the Phoebus Auction Gallery on East Mellen Street in Hampton, Virginia. First responders found Thomas inside the business; he died at the scene. Initial statements described the incident as a workplace accident and investigators reported that a coworker was handling a firearm when it discharged, striking Thomas.

Friends and local business owners in the Phoebus community remembered Thomas as a good person who enjoyed video and card games. Police did not immediately release the coworker’s name while they continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the discharge.

Months later investigators made an arrest. On January 9, 2019, 37-year-old Joshua James Hartman, a coworker at the auction house, was taken into custody and charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm. In July 2019 Hartman pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and in September 2019 a judge sentenced him to 10 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised probation. Did anyone in the Phoebus community know Courtney or have information about how the shooting happened?