Hampton Roads man faces life sentence for murder in 2022

A Hampton Roads Man was convicted on Friday of murder in 2022 in Norfolk.

Cola Winborne Beale IV33, was taken to a serve a life sentence plus five years for the premeditated murder in 2022 Downing Dujuan McLean in Norfolk.

Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise sentenced Beale to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and five years for use of a firearm. A jury in Norfolk found Beale guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of the murder on May 22, 2024.

The murder occurred shortly after Beale killed two people in Virginia Beach.

For the crimes Beale committed in Virginia Beach the week before McLean's death, a jury found Beale guilty on March 20, 2024: two counts of murder, two counts of using a weapon in the commission of those crimes, kidnapping, killing an animal, and two counts of arson. Beale was sentenced to three life sentences plus 63 years in prison.

According to court documentsOn March 28, 2022, the Norfolk Police Department Special Operations Team was assisting Virginia Beach Police in executing a search warrant on a residence located at 3044 Sewells Point Road when officers found McLean dead inside the residence.

During the investigation of two other murders that had occurred in Virginia Beach in the days before McLean's death, detectives identified Beale as a suspect.

Beale was arrested in Hampton on March 30, 2022, and made a full confession to investigators in Norfolk and Virginia Beach to the three murders he committed in the week before his arrest, police said.

Beale shot McLean once in the mouth and once in the back, leaving him to die. McLean was dead for at least two days before his body was discovered by police. Beale said during his confession that he shot McLean because he considered McLean a liability, as McLean knew about Beale's previous murders.

“Today justice has been done,” said the Norfolk District Attorney Ramin Fatehi on Friday after the verdict was announced. “Mr. Beale murdered several people, all family members. He said he would have killed again. We have a duty to protect the community and we did our duty. Our condolences go out to the families who will never get their loved ones back.”

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Release date: May 23, 2024 | 12:04 p.m.