Ian Noah Butler was 16 when he was killed on December 24, 2017, in Colonial Heights, Virginia. At a gathering with friends, a 23-year-old acquaintance, Jeffrey Kyle Stephenson of Prince George, arrived and produced a firearm, pointing it at one of Ian’s friends. Ian intervened to protect his friend and was shot. He was taken to a local emergency room in a private vehicle but died of his injuries.

Stephenson was taken into custody shortly after the shooting with assistance from the Prince George County Police Department and charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was held without bond at the Riverside Regional Jail. In September 2018 a Colonial Heights Circuit Court judge found Stephenson guilty of second-degree murder after he pleaded not guilty but allowed prosecutors to present their evidence without rebuttal, and he received a 17-year prison sentence under a prearranged agreement between prosecution and defense. The motive for the shooting remains unclear; there was no known disagreement between Stephenson and Butler.

Did anyone at the gathering or in Colonial Heights have information about why Stephenson was at the residence that night?