A Norfolk man accused of taking part in a 2021 fatal shooting at an Ocean View apartment complex was found not guilty of murder on Thursday.
A jury acquitted Jacques Ruffin, 21, of first-degree murder and illegally using a firearm at the end of a two-day trial in Norfolk Circuit Court, according to his attorney, Eric Korslund. The panel, however, found Ruffin guilty of possessing a stolen handgun. The crime carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentencing is set for June 23.
The shooting happened at about 4 a.m. June 11, 2021, at Mariner’s Watch Apartments off Chesapeake Boulevard. Killed was 22-year-old Thomas E. Alexander III, also of Norfolk.
Footage from two nearby doorbell cameras played during the trial showed Alexander had just driven into the apartment complex when he was “ambushed” by three gunmen, Korslund said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ruffin was arrested several weeks later after being found on Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority property with a stolen handgun later determined to have been used in the shooting, Korslund said. Ruffin told police he purchased the gun knowing it was stolen, the defense lawyer said. No one else was ever charged in the case.
Korslund said there was no evidence indicating Ruffin knew the victim, nor was there any evidence about a motive. The doorbell camera footage wasn’t clear enough to identify any of the gunmen, he said.
Prosecutors also presented jurors with a video posted to Instagram that shows three men with a gun at the apartment complex at night, Korslund said. While Ruffin admitted to being one of the men in the video, there was no evidence to prove it was filmed the night of the incident, Korslund said.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com