A jury in Newport News Circuit Court last week found a 32-year-old man guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of his neighbor eight years ago.
Jurors found that Donnell Anthony Howard shot and killed 27-year-old Eric Charles Blackshear Jr., on Aug. 17, 2017 with a 12-gauge shotgun.
The men began arguing about 10 p.m. outside the Admiral Pointe Apartments, in the 7400 block of River Road near Newport News Shipbuilding.
According to court testimony, the confrontation began when Blackshear asked Howard for his sister’s phone number, which apparently set Howard off.
“You’re drunk!” Blackshear told him as the confrontation began. “You’re drunk!”
During the ensuing altercation, Blackshear appeared to be getting the better of Howard, witnesses testified.
Prosecution evidence in Ne