On the evening of May 4, 2017, two 911 calls reported an altercation and the sound of gunfire on Ridgefield Road in Mathews, Virginia. Responding deputies and medical personnel found 61-year-old Steven Allen Eary with a single gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene. A second person suffered a graze wound to the shoulder and was treated and released.

Investigators quickly identified a person of interest and initially took a 21-year-old man into custody for questioning. On May 23, 2017, authorities arrested 21-year-old Chad C. Whitmore of Newport News and charged him with first-degree murder in Eary’s death, along with malicious wounding and two counts related to use of a firearm. Whitmore was held without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center while the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office continued its investigation.

If anyone witnessed the incident on Ridgefield Road that night or has information about the events leading up to the shooting, please share what is known.