Two men were arrested with first-degree murder and other charges in connection with a double homicide in Isle of Wight County earlier this week.
The charges were announced at an Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office press conference Thursday.
Kareem Jamar Mitchell, 29, and Richard Alexander Holmes, 19, both of Stonehouse Lane in the Rushmere area of the county, have been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of Nancy and Kenneth Starnes, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.
Both are charged with two counts each of murder and use of a firearm while committing murder; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; burglary of a dwelling, in the nighttime with Intent to commit murder; and grand larceny.
Previously,
The rocky, dirt road that leads to a home where a mother and son were slain over the weekend is barely visible from Route 10 in Isle of Wight County.
Homes in the 4000 block of Ennisdale Drive sit far back from the road and are mostly hidden behind veils of trees and brush. Police say it was in this rural area that Nancy Starnes, 80, and her son, Kenneth Starnes, 58, were shot and killed Friday.
Nancy Starnes and her son had lived in the county for a long time, and have a number of relatives in the area, all of whom have cooperated with authorities as they investigate the double homicide and burglary, county Sheriff Mark Marshall said during a press conference Monday.
“Starnes and her son had regular routines and contact with family members,” Marshall said. “It was when they deviated from the routine that family members became concerned and called us.”
Police are concentrating their efforts on finding two vehicles stolen from the house — Kenneth Starnes’ gray 2010 Ford F-150 truck with state license plate KFJ-6882 and his mother’s gold 2001 Chrysler Town & Country LX with a handicap license plate M4354. The minivan has gold duct tape on its driver’s side mirror and around one taillight, police said.
Marshall said it’s imperative that police locate these vehicles, which may hold clues to help them solve the county’s first two homicides of the year.
“We’re a rural community that enjoys a good quality of life. This is one that shocks the community, and shocked us as well,” Marshall said.
Over the weekend, Virginia State Police and Suffolk police helped the sheriff’s office search the county and surrounding areas by air, looking for the vehicles. As of Monday, the vehicles had not been located and no arrests made, Marshall said.
The sheriff described the homicides as brutal and called the crime scene inside the home gruesome. He said the slaying unnerved people in the community of roughly 36,000 residents.
At a Family Dollar store about a half-mile from where the killings took place, a customer asked the cashier if he’d heard about the terrible thing that had happened close by. The cashier shook his head grimly and said, “Can’t believe something like that would happen here.” Neither wanted to give their names or be interviewed by a reporter.
Across the street at the Rushmere Food Market, an employee swept the floor of an empty store. The dollar store was new, but the market had been in the area for decades. The man inside said he couldn’t remember a killing that made him feel more nervous.
“For someone to come in your house like that, and just…it’s scary. That’s why you live out here, so that kind of thing doesn’t happen.” When asked for his name, he replied, “I’d rather not.”
Marshall said police are counting on people native to the area for help with the case.
According to police, Nancy Starnes was an active Facebook user, and last posted around 4:30 a.m. Friday. Around midday, witnesses told police the truck and minivan were no longer in the driveway.
Both victims were disabled — Nancy Starnes needed a walker and her son suffered from back problems that put him on disability — and a relative began to worry about them after not hearing from them, police said.
The relative contacted police, who went by the house Saturday morning to investigate a possible burglary. When officers arrived, they discovered someone had broken into the house and found Nancy Starnes and her son dead. Television sets, guns and pistols, credit cards, cash and other items were also missing, police said.
“We’re still trying to determine all the things stolen from the house in addition to the vehicles,” Marshall said.
Both Nancy Starnes and her son were shot multiple times, but the Medical Examiner’s Office in Norfolk will determine their cause of death as well as provide investigators with other clues that might help them solve the crime, Marshall said.
“This was a very brutal slaying. It was a gruesome, awful crime scene,” Marshall said. “We need the public’s help.”
Anyone with information on the double homicide or the location of the truck and minivan is asked to call the sheriff’s Office at 757-357-2151 or the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
Canty can be reached by phone at 247-4832. Follow her on Twitter @DPMCanty.
