Ames gets 28 years in prison for murder

By Linda Cicoira

     The shooter in the 2019 death of a Belle Haven man will serve a total of 28 years in prison for first-degree murder and other crimes.

     Twenty-five-year-old Bronta Jamar Ames, of Killmontown Road in Melfa, was sentenced Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to 40 years in prison with half the time suspended for the death of Alvin Lee “Derek” Rogers, of Belle Haven.

    Judge W. Revell Lewis III also gave Ames 20 years with 10 suspended for attempted robbery and three years each for two counts of use of a firearm in a felony. The murder and robbery counts were set to run concurrently.

      The sentences were part of a plea agreement with Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan. Counts of illegally obtaining a credit card, two charges of grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, and an act of violence by a mob were not prosecuted as part of the deal.

     Morgan said the shooting occurred on Boggs Road in Painter. When police arrived, they found Rogers’ body in his van, which had run into a tree. It appeared the 40-year-old was backing up when he was shot. There were bullet holes in the van’s windshield and blood inside the vehicle. An autopsy showed he was shot in the shoulder and in the stomach area. The latter “bullet passed through major organs and caused the death,” Morgan said.

     For months, Ames denied being involved in the shooting. He blamed then 17-year-old Nyxavier Snead, Rogers’ neighbor. Snead has also been charged with the murder and related crimes. Later, Ames told authorities the purpose of the meeting was to “purchase marijuana” and that he had gotten a 9mm pistol from Snead and then shot into the van as it was moving. According to court records Snead’s jury trial is set for April 2023. He will be tried as an adult.