Indictment issued in death at auction house

HAMPTON — Courtney Dewayne Thomas was working at the Phoebus Auction Gallery in October when Hampton police and medics got the call that he'd been shot.

When they arrived, the medics attempted to save his life, but 11 minutes later Thomas, from Hampton, was pronounced dead at age 30, according to a search warrant filed by detective Steven Rodey.

Three months later, Thomas's former coworker, 37-year-old Joshua James Hartman from Newport News, was indicted by a Hampton grand jury on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm, according to online court records.

Involuntary manslaughter charges are reserved for killings that are accidental or unintended, but a conviction usually requires evidence of recklessness or negligence.

Hartman was handling the gun at the auction gallery when the round discharged, according to a news release from police. The medical examiner said the round hit Thomas in the chest.

Online catalogs from the Phoebus Auction Gallery showed it auctioned guns and continues to do so.

When police arrived at the scene, there was a gun on the table “in plain view,” according to the search warrant. It's the one police suspect was fired.

On Jan. 9, Hartman was arrested in connection with the shooting and he remains in custody at the Hampton City Jail, a police news release said.

Thomas worked his first auction at the Phoebus Auction Gallery in May 2017, according to Daily Press archives.

Thomas and Hartman were “good friends” who socialized outside of work, Sydney Cohen a former part-time worker at the auction gallery said. Hartman was “devastated” by Thomas' death.