Details emerge in slaying of two Hampton brothers

HAMPTON — Two brothers were being followed in a car on Settlers Landing Road one evening in late January.

Just before 9 p.m., another vehicle pulled up alongside them near the intersection with Kecoughtan Road. Then, someone in the other car riddled the Nissan Altima’s passenger side with at least three shots, court documents say.

One round struck the driver, 46-year-old Edwin Dennard, and another hit 42-year-old Alfonzie William Dennard. The Altima hit a utility pole near South Stewart Street, then rolled into a backyard of a home on Chapel Drive as medics tried to help.

The Dennard brothers, of Hampton, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later filed court documents saying that “surveillance footage from the area of the homicide and accident” show the Altima being followed by a “light-colored SUV” at 8:51 p.m.

“The vehicles are seen heading in the direction of Settlers Landing Road and Kecoughtan Road,” said a search warrant affidavit by Hampton Police Detective Bryce Kiser.

That’s just two minutes before the 911 calls came in about gunshots and a car wreck in that area. The search warrant affidavit, filed in Hampton Circuit Court, said a woman previously “physically involved” with Edwin Dennard told detectives he assaulted her Nov. 7.

After that, she said, he “would often call or text making threatening statements.”

She told police that just 20 minutes before the shooting on Settlers Landing Road, Dennard came to her home making verbal threats, striking one of her windows with what she thought was a baseball bat.

When police went to the home later that night in response to the vandalism call, a police officer’s body camera was rolling.

“In this footage, a vehicle is observed on scene matching that of the SUV” that was seen following Edwin Dennard’s Altima on Kecoughtan Road, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said a man who was introduced to police as the woman’s boyfriend was wearing clothes that “matches clothing of the driver operating the SUV following Dennard’s car ... just prior to his death,” the affidavit said.

Police were granted a search warrant to get data from the woman’s cell phone service to confirm calls and messages from Edwin Dennard.

No arrests have been made in the case.

Hampton Police spokesman Sgt. Reggie Williams said the case is still under investigation. Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell said no charges have been presented to him to prosecute.

Though police filed an incident report on the woman’s Nov. 7 complaint that Edwin Dennard had assaulted her, there’s no record in the court that he was charged in that incident.

The Dennards’ surviving brother, Milton Dennard, 44, of Hampton, and other relatives could not be reached for comment.

Anyone with information about the double killing is asked to call the Hampton Police Division at 757—727— 6111 or the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

People also can send anonymous tips at P3Tips. com. Crime Line callers don’t have to appear in court and could be eligible for a cash reward up to $1,000.