Man Pleads Guilty to Second-Degree Murder Following 2020 Shooting
NORFOLK, Va. – Malcolm Jamaal Jorden, 31, was convicted of second-degree murder in Norfolk Circuit Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to killing 29-year-old Jonathan Lee Bassett in 2020.
After midnight on Nov. 14, 2020, Mr. Jorden shot and pistol-whipped Mr. Bassett inside a residence on Nicholson Street belonging to Mr. Jorden’s girlfriend. The girlfriend’s three children were present inside the apartment at the time of the shooting.
On Dec. 8, 2020, the Norfolk Police Fugitive Apprehension Squad took Mr. Jorden into custody, and he confessed to shooting Mr. Bassett because he was under the impression that Mr. Bassett was having relations with Mr. Jorden’s then-pregnant girlfriend.
Mr. Jorden pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday, and Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. accepted his plea with an agreed maximum sentence of 18 years. Mr. Jorden is docketed for sentencing for this matter and for probation violations on March 1. There is no agreement on the disposition of the probation violations.
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Shavaughn N. Banks and Michelle L. Newkirk are prosecuting Mr. Jorden’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detective Christopher W. Rocchio led the investigation.
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