Man Sentenced to More Than 4 Years After Pleading Guilty to Shooting into Ex-Girlfriend’s Home in 2024

NORFOLK, Va. — Navari Deyontae Taylor, 21, was sentenced to serve four years and two months in prison for possessing a gun as a convicted felon and using it to shoot into his ex-girlfriend’s home last year after she filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Taylor for threatening her.

On Oct. 13, 2024, Mr. Taylor’s ex-girlfriend secured a charge against Mr. Taylor from a Norfolk magistrate for threatening her life over the phone, a misdemeanor. Less than a week later, on Oct. 18, Mr. Taylor — armed with a gun and riding in a car with three others — went to her home on Edward Street. Once they arrived outside the house, Mr. Taylor fired several rounds into the window of his ex’s bedroom, the group drove off, and Mr. Taylor threw the gun out of the vehicle. The victim and two others who were present inside the house were not injured and called Norfolk Police to report the shooting.

As officers drove to the victim’s house, they noticed the car with Mr. Taylor inside driving with no headlights on at a high rate of speed away from the house and toward Interstate 64. The officers pulled the car over on the highway, detained all four occupants, and identified Mr. Taylor as the ex-boyfriend of the targeted victim. With the help of police K9s, officers found the gun near the road along Mr. Taylor’s group’s path of travel from the house, and Mr. Taylor later confirmed that it was the gun he used to shoot into the house.

Mr. Taylor has a criminal history including prior felony convictions, so he is prohibited from possessing firearms. As a result of their investigation, the police charged Mr. Taylor with shooting into an occupied dwelling (a felony), possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and shooting a firearm in a public place (a misdemeanor) in addition to his existing misdemeanor warrant for threatening his ex-girlfriend over the phone.

On June 17, 2025, Mr. Taylor entered an agreement to plead guilty to shooting into an occupied dwelling as well as possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and serve four years and two months in prison — the midpoint of Mr. Taylor’s state sentencing guidelines — with another eight years and 10 months in custody suspended on the conditions that Mr. Taylor complete one year of supervised probation and five years of uniform good behavior following his release. In exchange for his guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to the dismissal of the misdemeanor charges. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Taylor’s plea agreement and sentenced him according to its terms.

“Mr. Taylor had no reason to shoot into his ex-girlfriend’s house, and everyone, including Mr. Taylor, is lucky that he did not hurt anyone,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Thank you to the victim of this crime for reporting it immediately and to the police for their heads-up investigation that led to Mr. Taylor’s immediate arrest and to the recovery of the gun Mr. Taylor never should have possessed. The difference between a shooting like this one and a murder is often a matter of luck, and we will continue to prosecute and hold accountable the people who commit gun violence in our city.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew G. Finley prosecuted Mr. Taylor’s case, and Norfolk Police Detectives Stephen P. West and Jose R. Oyola led the investigation.

If you and/or someone you love has fallen victim to crime — including but not limited to intimate partner violence — resources are available at the Norfolk Family Justice Center. For more information, please visit norfolkfjc.org, call 757-330-0376, or stop by the NFJC located at 835 Glenrock Road, Suite 100, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. If you are in crisis, call the 24/7 hotline by dialing 757-251-0144. In an emergency, please call 911.

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