In a press conference today, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo, aided by Lieutenants Bryant Bibb and Mike Dean, offered responses to some as-yet unanswered questions in the Saturday homicide of Joshua Anthony Magruder. Namely, the suspects knew their victim. "There clearly is a relationship between all the parties," Longo said.
On July 20, police executed an arrest warrant at an apartment in Friendship Court, but upon arrival found that the apartment was empty. The four suspects, Theodore Calvin Timberlake, Bobby Wayne Gardner, Trenton Michael Brock, and Rachel Denise Turner, were staying at a motel in the Emmett Street corridor in Albemarle County, and surrendered themselves willingly. All four have been charged with First Degree murder. Gardner has also been charged with knowingly and intentionally possessing or transporting a firearm after having been convicted of a felony. Turner is charged as an accessory to the crimes committed by Gardner after knowing he had committed a felony.
Though there is no clear motive at this time, Longo says there was a conflict between two groups (one of them including Magruder) and it would be "fair to characterize [the groups] as a gang." Previously, city police have identified Sixth Street as one of four neighborhoods marked by gang activity.
A memorial for Joshua Anthony Magruder was created at the corner of Sixth Street and Monticello Avenue, behind Friendship Court. The memorial features bottles of Grey Goose Vodka, stuffed animals, cigarettes and messages scrawled in chalk, including a prominent "R.I.P." A second photo is below.
