Suspect in Friday evening homicide arrested

Update: Jamal Anthony Samuel was taken into custody around 12:45 without incident.

By Linda Cicoira

A Melfa man was shot to death in Mappsville Friday night in the parking lot of the Dollar General Store, according to an announcement made earlier today by Accomack Sheriff W. Todd Wessells. A New Church man has been arrested in connection with the shooting.

At about 7:25 p.m., deputies were alerted about the incident on Lankford Highway. When the officers arrived, they found 43-year-old Maurice Anthony Holden was unresponsive and was suffering from gunshot wounds, the sheriff said. Holden died at the scene. His body was taken to the Norfolk Medical Examiner’s Office so an official cause of death could be determined.

Wessells said an investigation led to warrants being filed against 45-year-old Jamal Anthony Samuel. The suspect was charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Court records show Samuel was convicted of grand theft and use of a firearm in April 2009 when he lived in Accomac.

The sheriff’s office was assisted by members of the Bloxom and Onley police departments, the state police, Oak Hall Rescue, Parksley Volunteer Fire Department, and Accomack’s Department of Public Safety.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (757) 787-1131 or (757) 824-5666 or give a tip through the sheriff’s website at www.accomackcountysheriffsoffice.org.