A Smithfield man pleaded guilty last week in connection with the fatal shooting of an ODU professor in a terror-related incident in March.
Kenya Mcchell Chapman, 32, of Smithfield, pleaded guilty on one count of dealing in firearms without a license, and three counts of making false statements during purchases of firearms – the latter three charges related to a 2021 investigation.
A review of an affidavit filed in the case suggested there may have been more going on between Chapman and the shooter, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, who opened fire on an Army ROTC classroom on March 12, killing a military-science professor, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a native of Staunton, and wounding two students, before he was subdued and killed by students trying to neutralize the danger.
According to the affidavit, Chapman’s phone number came up in a search of a phone associated with Jalloh, who, per phone records, called Chapman at 10:19 a.m. on March 12, minutes before the shooting.
Their interactions went back March 5, according to the phone records, which logged six calls between Chapman and Jalloh, who, according to the affidavit, was taking online classes at ODU, between March 5-12.
Location data associated with the phone records show that Jalloh had traveled from the vicinity of the ODU campus to a residence in Smithfield associated with Chapman on the morning of March 6, and left that area several hours later to travel to a residence in Sterling associated with Jalloh.
The location data then show Jalloh returning to the ODU area on March 10, then making a trip from ODU to the Smithfield residence associated with Chapman on March 11, and that Jalloh then stayed at the residence overnight after a short trip back and forth to the Islamic Center of Hampton.
Jalloh left the Smithfield residence at 8:58 a.m. on March 12 to travel back to the ODU campus.
As authorities executed a search warrant at Chapman’s residence, Chapman, per the affidavit, admitted that he stole the firearm used in the shooting from a vehicle in Newport News last year, and sold it to Jalloh for $100, claiming that Jalloh had said to him that he needed a firearm for protection as a delivery driver.
Jalloh had been convicted in 2016 of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. As a previously convicted felon, Jalloh could not legally purchase or possess firearms or ammunition.
Chapman, per the affidavit, had been under previous scrutiny from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
In 2021, he was under investigation for straw purchases of two firearms that were recovered at the scene of a homicide; he admitted purchasing the guns, according to the affidavit, and was issued a warning letter, and required to write a letter of apology.
Three of the charges placed against Chapman – the ones regarding false statements made during purchases of firearms – involve that 2021 investigation.
Chapman is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18 and faces up to 35 years in prison.
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Chris Graham
