Willie Rogers Marable III, 28

Portsmouth, Virginia
May 13, 2018

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: over 5 years ago

Overview

Police fatally shot a man Sunday night while checking on a call they described as a “possible armed home invasion.”

But the man’s relatives disputed the police description of what happened, saying they have questions about what led to the death of 28-year-old Willie Rogers Marable III.

“I want to know, why did the police kill my son?” his mother, Lorri Flythe, said Monday. “Why are they killing our black youth out here? And they’re talking about a gun. My son never owned a gun, never had a gun. So I want to know what’s going on. Somebody’s covering up something, and I want to get to the bottom of it.”

Court records show Marable had owned a gun in the past and was convicted in 2014 of recklessly handling one.

According to Portsmouth police, dispatchers got a 911 call shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, asking that officers come to the 140 block of Navajo Trail for a possible armed home invasion.

In a news release early Monday morning, Portsmouth police said officers were “confronted by two armed suspects” who “failed to comply with officers’ commands to surrender.”