Most City of Virginia Beach offices and facilities will be closed on Tuesday, Nov. 11, for Veterans Day, but solid waste and recycling collection services will continue as scheduled. Some city facilities, including parks, community recreation centers, and the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, will remain open.
On November 10, 2025, at 5:25 p.m., Virginia Beach Emergency Communications and Citizen Services received a report of a person with a gunshot wound in the 900 block of Thousand Oaks Drive. Officers from the Virginia Beach Police Department responded to the scene and found Markel Alexander Cephas, age 34 from Chester, Virginia. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Virginia Beach Police detectives identified Roberto Amir Inniss, age 19 from Newport News, as the suspect in this case. Investigators used tools such as Flock Safety License Plate Readers to generate leads quickly. With assistance from the Chesapeake Police Department, Inniss was apprehended within nine hours of the incident.
Inniss has been charged with murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
“The integration of real-time data and advanced technology, coupled with the great work of our detectives, was absolutely instrumental in the swift apprehension of the suspect,” said Chief Paul W. Neudigate. “Our officers were able to use these tools to quickly cross-reference information and assist in locating our suspect, ensuring a safer community in a fraction of the time it would have taken with traditional methods.”
The investigation is ongoing by the VBPD Detective Bureau. Anyone with information can contact VBPD at (757) 385-4101 or anonymously through Crime Solvers at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or P3Tips.com.
Authorities remind that charges are accusations and Inniss is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
