Virginia Beach police said they were called July 20 to a home in the 4100 block of White Beam Court for a report of a stabbing. When officers arrived, they were confronted by Marques Hasbrouck, who was armed with a 20-inch crowbar and a 27-inch metal rod, according to a release.

After Hasbrouck refused to drop the weapons, police said, they deployed a stun gun, but it wasn’t effective. Hasbrouck was charging at officers when more than one fired at him, police said. Inside the home, officers found his mother, Victoria Hasbrouck, dead, and two relatives seriously injured.

Police had been to the family’s home for an attack in November 2017, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The document said that Hasbrouck, then 16, and his mother had a dispute over him playing video games and not taking his medications.

Hasbrouck pushed his mother and cursed at her, the affidavit said. When he tried to get some fast food that was on the table, she told him he couldn’t have any because of how he had talked to her, the document said.

“Marques grabbed a pair of scissors and attacked his mother,” the affidavit said. “He stabbed her multiple times in the face, head and body. He stated that he had ‘murderous intent’ and deliberately aimed for her eyes because ‘they are soft.'”

The document went on to say that while Hasbrouck was attacking his mother, he heard voices in his head urging him to continue the assault. It also said that he was being treated for mental illness.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

District Judge Erin Evans-Bedois had an announcement at the start of the June 28 session, according to two attorneys who were there.

The judge told the group that the officer involved in all but two of the dozens of cases on the docket had informed the court she wouldn’t be there, the lawyers said. Instead, Officer Shanon Velez said she would be at the campaign rally for former president Donald Trump being held about 6 miles away at the Historic Greenbrier Farms.

As a result, Evans-Bedois dismissed all charges against 11 people, a review of court records conducted by The Virginian-Pilot shows. Most involved lesser offenses such as speeding, but some were for charges that carried a potential jail sentence, such as driving with a suspended license.

The judge postponed the cases of another 13 people — many of whom faced more serious misdemeanor charges such as driving while intoxicated and drug possession — forcing them to have return at a later date. Fifteen other people who’d been cited for traffic offenses by Velez, and given the same court date, had paid their fines in advance.

“I was floored,” said attorney Tom Sheppard, who was among the lawyers in court that day representing one of the people charged. “My client was very happy.”

Sheppard’s client, a Virginia Beach man who’d been accused of driving with a suspended license, speeding, and not wearing a seatbelt, was among those who had all his charges dismissed, Sheppard said. The maximum penalty for the suspended license count is a year in jail.

As for the judge, “she seemed pretty annoyed,” the lawyer said, and hesitated before dismissing some of the cases.

“I think she decided she was not going to punish the defendants that were there as they were supposed to be,” he said.

Attorney John Greenside, also in court that day representing a client, said it wasn’t clear to him whether the officer was attending the rally as a participant or working it.

When The Virginian-Pilot contacted Chesapeake police earlier this month for more information, a spokesman said the department wasn’t aware of what had happened until it was contacted by the newspaper. Spokesman Leo Kosinski said later that the officer was on duty at the rally but had not followed the proper procedure to avoid problems with the court cases, and an investigation was started as a result.

In the meantime, Velez, a 17-year veteran of the department who works as a traffic enforcement officer in the special operations section, remains on regular duty, he said.

Kosinski said Velez wouldn’t be commenting on the case.

As for those who had their cases continued due to the officer’s absence, their next court date is Aug. 9.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Correction: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story was unclear about the officer’s status at the rally. She was on duty for the event, Chesapeake police have said.

The settlement was announced at the start of what was supposed to be the second day of trial in the case, which was brought against Hague school co-founder Paul Warren by former student Keelin Hogan. Hogan later filed an additional lawsuit against Warren’s wife, Jennifer, the school’s other co-founder.

Attorney Diane Toscano, who represents Hogan, and the Warrens’ attorney, S.W. Dawson, declined to disclose the terms of the agreement. The lawyers, however, described it as a fair settlement, and said both sides were satisfied with the terms.

Also settled and dismissed on Wednesday was a defamation lawsuit Warren had filed against Toscano in which he accused her of including false claims in her complaint that were later dismissed by the court.

The trial began Tuesday in Norfolk Circuit Court with jury selection, opening statements from the lawyers and testimony from Hogan.

Now 19 and a sophomore at The College of Charleston in South Carolina, Hogan spent about 1½ hours testifying. She was to begin cross examination Wednesday.

Hogan told jurors about a torrent of inappropriate and unwanted touching, comments, and messages she said she received from Paul Warren during the 2 ½ years he served as headmaster, provost, and teacher at the school — and how her educational and personal life began to unravel as a result.

Hogan was among the first class of students to attend the private high school when it opened in fall 2019 in a former church building next to the Chrysler Museum of Art.

Her initial lawsuit was filed in June 2023, and also included the school as a defendant, but she later dropped the institution from the claim after discussing the allegations further with school officials and being satisfied with their responses, Toscano said.

Hogan and Toscano filed an additional complaint against Jennifer Warren last month, in which they claimed she knew of her husband’s  “predatory behavior” and was “complicit” to it.

Jennifer Warren had been copied on a letter sent to her husband and another school official in November 2022 by the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Virginia Wesleyan University. It said Paul Warren had sent a nude photo and unseemly messages to a university art teacher after she began working on a traveling exhibit at The Hague School, the lawsuit said.

Paul Warren, an attorney who practiced in the Norfolk area for many years, was removed from The Hague School shortly afterwards, and Jennifer Warren left later. The couple recently moved to California, according to court documents.

In an email Jennifer Warren sent to her husband in October 2022 to discuss a separate allegation of inappropriate behavior, she wrote that he had an “underlying condition that you can’t just wish or will away, hence the chronicity for years, escalating with each person as you seek out risky, destructive situations,” according to the lawsuit. “These are classic signs of predatory behavior, and you’re addicted to it.”

Paul Warren also has been accused of improper behavior with Arianna Shipp, the school’s former physical education teacher.

Shipp has claimed Paul Warren routinely made sexual comments to her, sent inappropriate emails and messages, and once climbed on top of her during a yoga session he insisted on having with her. She quit in December 2019, a few months after the school opened.

Hogan’s lawsuit says Shipp spoke to and texted about what had happened to Jennifer Warren, who asked her to forward all the concerning emails and texts she’d received from him.

“Have just concluded a two-hour talk (with Mr. Warren) met with great remorse and an agreement to go to counseling,” Jennifer Warren wrote to Shipp in a text, the lawsuit said. “It will be a tough road ahead. So sorry this happened and praying for healing.”

Jennifer Warren didn’t tell anyone at The Hague School about the incident and continued to allow Paul Warren access to girls at the school, the lawsuit said.

The complaint also alleges Paul Warren solicited a late-night video conference with an underage student at a school in Mexico with which The Hague School had a partnership. Warren appeared shirtless on the video while telling the student, “let’s get naked already,” the lawsuit said.

Hogan testified Tuesday that she began to withdraw from school activities, friends and family as a result of the unwanted attention from Paul Warren, which she said included messages from him at night and weekends. She was later diagnosed with depression and anxiety, she said, and still finds it difficult to trust others.

“He was always over me, I couldn’t get away from him,” she testified. “I was scared. I didn’t understand what was happening. I had looked up to him and he was asking me questions no one had ever asked me before.”

Warren had asked Hogan to serve as his teaching assistant during her junior year, which required her to meet alone with him for several hours each week. She said he always sat very close to her, and often would put his hands on her thighs.

At the end of each meeting he would hug her tightly and once asked to kiss her, which she said she refused. He also encouraged her to dress more provocatively, she testified, suggesting that wearing lace bras would improve her confidence.

Hogan’s parents began to notice a change in her demeanor, and how she had begun to avoid school activities, and sought counseling for her, she said. She provided details to her therapist in November 2022, which is when school officials and Child Protective Services were notified and Warren was forced to leave.

Through Toscano, Hogan said Wednesday she appreciated the support she’s received from The Hague School and “The Hague School community” while the lawsuit was pending.

The school put out a statement Wednesday in which it applauded Hogan for coming forward.

“We are proud of our graduate, Keelin Hogan, for demonstrating the courage to pursue the civil litigation process to her satisfaction,” Head of School Michael Spencer said in the statement.  “She is a remarkable young woman with a bright future, and The Hague School salutes her fortitude.”

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

And while Mary McNulty was beloved by her family, friends and community, in the end it was one of the many children she and her husband had taken in and given a home to during their 61-year-marriage who ended up taking her life.

McNulty was 82 when she was shot and killed inside her Chesapeake home three years ago. The gunman was Traivon McNulty, a then-20-year-old that McNulty and her husband, Hezekiah, had raised since he was 2 weeks old.

On Tuesday, Traivon McNulty pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, robbery, using a firearm to commit a felony, and another unrelated charge. In accordance with a plea agreement he’d reached with prosecutors, Circuit Judge Andrew D. Kubovcik then sentenced him to 35 years in prison.

According to a statement of facts entered into the case, Traivon McNulty was still living with his adoptive parents and paying them rent when the shooting occurred July 17, 2021.

That morning, he’d asked his father to take him to the bank. When Traivon McNulty didn’t withdraw the full amount he owed for rent, Hezekiah McNulty told him his mother would be upset, the statement said.

Traivon McNulty then called Mary McNulty an expletive and told Hezekiah McNulty, “I’m going to fix you (expletive) today,” the statement said.

After they pulled into the driveway, Traivon McNulty quickly exited the vehicle and went inside. Hezekiah McNulty was standing outside when he heard several gunshots, then ran in to find his wife had been shot.

Afterward, Traivon McNulty threw Hezekiah McNulty to the ground, punched him repeatedly, took his keys, and then fled in his minivan.

When police arrived, they found Mary McNulty’s body in a chair in the front room. She had been shot four times in her face. Traivon McNulty was arrested two days later in Delaware.

On Tuesday, three of Mary McNulty’s children, one of her granddaughters and two of her sons in law told the judge about what a loving and remarkable woman she was, and how her murder had devastated their family.

All of them struggled to understand why Traivon McNulty would want to kill her. But in the end, all but one said they’d forgiven him.

“Miss McNulty treated you as if she brought you into this world herself,” son-in-law Joseph Lymore said to Traivon McNulty during Tuesday’s hearing. “And then you turn around and for no reason, killed Mamma Kay … Your daddy still loves you. That’s the love they have. Despite all you’ve done.”

Hezekiah McNulty, now 87, didn’t come to the hearing. In a letter written by him that Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Peterson read in court, Hezekiah McNulty said his life has been shattered.

Since that day, he said, he’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and has suffered from panic attacks, constant fear and a lost sense of security. He visits his wife’s grave every day as he continues to try to rebuild his life.

In explaining why he didn’t come to court Tuesday, Hezekiah McNulty wrote, “I don’t want to relive that moment. I don’t have the mental strength to relive that moment and I don’t want to see Traivon McNulty.”

When Traivon McNulty was asked by the judge if he had anything to say, he replied, “No.”

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com 

According to police, officers were dispatched to a house in the 4100 block of White Beam Court around 7 p.m. Saturday for a report of a stabbing. When they arrived, they were confronted by Marques Hasbrouck, who was armed with a 20-inch crowbar and a 27-inch metal rod, police said in a release.

Officers ordered Hasbrouck to drop the weapons, but he ignored them, the release stated. A Taser was deployed, but police said it was “ineffective.”

“Hasbrouck charged at the officers who were forced to resort to lethal force,” the release said. “More than one officer discharged their firearms striking Mr. Hasbrouck. Hasbrouck succumbed to his wounds at the scene and was pronounced deceased by EMS personnel.”

Officers entered the home — on a cul-de-sac off Foxwood Drive, near Windsor Oaks and South Independence boulevards — after Hasbrouck was shot. They found one person dead and two others critically injured.

The deceased victim was identified as 58-year-old Victoria Lane Hasbrouck.

The release didn’t say whether the Hasbroucks were related, and the department didn’t immediately respond to requests for more information about their relationship, or whether the two lived at the home. Online records indicate they lived there.

Police said they don’t believe any other suspects were involved in the violence that occurred inside the home, nor did they state that they believe Marques Hasbrouck was responsible. They also didn’t disclose how many officers fired at him, and didn’t immediately respond to requests made Sunday for that information. The involved officers have been placed on routine administrative leave, the department said, which is standard in officer-involved shootings.

Virginia Beach police fatally shoot suspect; 1 other dead, 2 seriously wounded

“Our hearts are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” Police Chief Paul Neudigate said in a statement. “Responding to domestic incidents is one of the most dangerous aspects of our job, with every encounter carrying with it the possibility of danger. These situations are often volatile and unpredictable, as was the case last night.”

The department’s homicide unit and the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office will investigate to determine if the officers’ actions were justified, the release said. The Virginia Beach police department’s internal affairs unit also will conduct an administrative review to determine if they complied with department policy, procedure, and training.

Anyone with information relating to the case is asked to contact the department’s detective bureau at 757-385-4101, or anonymously through Crime Solvers at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Police were called to a home in the 4100 block of White Beam Court around 7 p.m., according to spokeswoman Jody Saunders. The area is off Windsor Oaks Boulevard, between Holland Road and South Independence Boulevard.

When officers arrived, they were met by a suspect armed with a “machete-type”  weapon, Saunders said.

“Preliminary information is that after verbal commands were disregarded and attempts at less-lethal force were ineffective, officers discharged their weapons to stop the suspect threat,” Saunders wrote in a news release. “The suspect succumbed to his wounds.”

After the suspect was shot, officers went inside the home and found another person dead and two others critically injured, Saunders said. The wounded were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Neither the suspect, nor the victims found inside, had been identified as of late Saturday night, she said. The spokeswoman said she didn’t yet know how many officers had fired at the suspect, but would be providing updates as they became available.

“This is an active crime scene which our detectives are currently examining, and it is very early in the investigation,” Saunders said.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

“We cannot sit idly by and let these scammers get away with cheating law-abiding citizens out of their hard-earned money, especially under the guise of law enforcement,” Sheriff Rocky Holcomb said in a statement. “We will do everything in our power to help citizens protect themselves, put these criminals out of business and make them pay the consequences of their illegal actions.”

Scammers typically reach their potential victims over the phone and online. One of the most common scams in recent years involves jury duty, according to Holcomb. Imposters posing as deputy sheriffs tell people they missed jury duty and must pay a fine.

Virginia Beach residents who believe they may have been targeted by a scammer are encouraged to go to the sheriff’s consumer protection unit’s website, where they can gather information and fill out a form about the suspected fraud. The unit’s staff will then investigate the reports, while working closely with other local, state and federal agencies.

The unit plans to send out alerts about emerging scams, offer personalized assistance to victims, and provide educational workshops to prevent residents from becoming a victim. While the unit is only designated to help Virginia Beach residents, it will attempt to help others who reach out to it by referring them to the appropriate organization, said sheriff’s office spokeswoman Toni Guagenti.

“Our mission extends beyond mere protection; it’s about empowerment,” Holcomb said. “Through comprehensive education initiatives and proactive measures, we strive to arm citizens with the awareness and resilience needed to thwart fraudulent schemes and preserve their financial security.”

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Judge Devon R. Paige agreed to order the evaluations for Hilary D. Johnson II and Z’ibreyea Parker after requests from their court-appointed attorneys. Johnson is represented by J.D. Garrett, and Parker by Trevor Robinson.

The couple had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday to determine if there was sufficient evidence to send the case on to a grand jury. The hearing was postponed, however, after the defense lawyers requested the mental health exams.

When the couple took their 9-day-old daughter to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters on May 4, the child was already cold to the touch, according to investigators. She was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Further examination showed the child had severe burns on both feet, “splash burns” on other parts of her body, lacerations, and numerous bruises. An autopsy would later determine she’d also suffered broken ribs, a broken clavicle, and showed signs of shaken baby syndrome.

Parker and Johnson, who were living in a tent at the time, were arrested within hours of arriving at the hospital. They were charged with felony child abuse, but the charges were upgraded to murder once the medical examiner ruled their daughter’s death a homicide. Both are being held without bond in the city jail.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

On Monday, a grand jury indicted Sean A. Fearon, 22, on charges of sexual penetration with an object, abduction with intent to defile, and concealing or destroying evidence. Fearon was arrested later that day and ordered held without bond.

He initially was placed in protective custody in the Virginia Beach city jail, but was transferred Tuesday to another facility, jail spokeswoman Toni Guagenti said. She declined to say where he was taken, but online records indicate he was moved to the Chesapeake jail.

Virginia Beach attorney Tom Sheppard told Circuit Judge Afshin Farashahi on Tuesday he’s been retained to represent Fearon, and was trying to get a bond hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Farashahi told the defense lawyer he plans to recuse himself from the case because Fearon is a local police officer. The judge said his colleagues on the Circuit Court likely will do the same, which is typical in cases involving local law enforcement. The Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case, and a special prosecutor from Chesapeake was appointed to handle it.

A court document filed by special prosecutor Madeline Woodruff on Monday said Fearon has been a Virginia Beach police officer since June 2022. It also said he’d been in the United States for four years, and has significant family ties in Jamaica. Woodruff asked in her motion that his indictment be sealed until after his arrest to protect the alleged victim, as well as the officers assigned to take him into custody.

Virginia Beach police said in a statement Monday the department began investigating Fearon after receiving a complaint June 14. His police powers were suspended and he was placed on administrative duty, the department said. A checklist for bail in his court file said he was suspended without pay.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com

Cassandra Meeks-Payton, 55, pleaded guilty in April to a single felony count of embezzlement. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to seek no more than a one-year jail sentence.

Meeks-Payton was hired by Norfolk Public Schools in 2019 to serve as the summer school programs manager. Part of her duties was to collect cash and money order payments for summer classes, and turn the money over to the accounting department, according to prosecutors.

In 2019, the school system expected to collect a total of $42,300 in payments from the 363 students who enrolled that year. Meeks-Payton, however, only handed in $32,830, and pocketed the remaining $9,470, prosecutors said.

Circuit Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. also ordered Meeks-Payton to repay the money. The judge authorized jail officials to consider allowing her to serve her time through work release or on home electronic monitoring, so that she can work toward paying the money she owes.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com