Roanoke man who fatally shot neighbor on front porch sentenced to 20 years

Mary Prophet, whose grandson Jeremy Clement died after being shot Oct. 28 in southwest Roanoke, lights candles with Rita Joyce, president of Families Expecting Deliverance Using Prayer (FEDUP), during a vigil for Clement soon after the incident.

A Roanoke man pleaded guilty Monday to fatally shooting his downstairs neighbor on the front porch of a residence they shared after a brief, angry confrontation.

Hall

Anthony Lee Hall, 30, was sentenced in Roanoke Circuit Court to 20 years in prison for the murder of 36-year-old Jeremy Clement.

Hall looked directly at members of Clement's family seated in the courtroom and told them he felt the "utmost remorse."

Clement

"This was a very messed up, tragic situation," Hall said. "I honestly thought that it was just a shot to the shoulder."

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ryan Hupp said Clement was living with his girlfriend in the bottom story of a two-unit house in the 900 block of Marshall Avenue Southwest.

On Oct. 28, the couple was arguing when they heard stomping from the upstairs apartment where Hall lived. Clement shouted towards the stomping, "Come on then, [expletive], come downstairs!"

Hupp said Clement went outside onto the front porch, holding a baseball bat. His girlfriend stayed inside. She heard Clement say, "Then shoot me, [expletive]," a single gunshot rang out, and she saw Clement fall.

Hupp said the girlfriend would have testified that Clement "never raised the bat or swung the bat at the defendant."

The girlfriend ran to the upstairs apartment, looking for a phone to call 911, Hupp continued. There, she saw Hall and yelled, "You shot him!" And Hall replied, "I did it to protect you."

Three people called 911, including Hall's mother, who was in the upstairs apartment. Police arrived "seconds later," Hupp relayed, followed by Roanoke Fire-EMS Department personnel, who pronounced Clement dead.

Officers found a single spent cartridge on the front porch, then went upstairs, where they heard Clement's girlfriend crying, Hupp said. They determined Hall was in a bedroom in the apartment, which was locked from the inside.

Officers directed everyone out of the upstairs apartment and attempted to make contact with Hall. His mother allowed police to speak with him through her cellphone, and after about 90 minutes, he left the bedroom on his own, Hupp said. Police arrested him, then took Hall to the police station.

There, a detective noticed Hall had blood on his pants and shoes. After being read his Miranda rights, Hall asked for an attorney, and officers began to walk him downstairs to the city magistrate's office.

Hupp said that while in the stairwell, "without any questioning or prompting from the officers," Hall said, "I just wanted to protect her."

Hupp said in court on Monday that Hall was convicted of malicious wounding in Salem Circuit Court in 2012. According to court records, he received a seven-year active sentence. A previous report by The Roanoke Times indicates that in April 2011 Hall, then 18, struck a 15-year-old in the head.

Hall told the court Monday he was on probation at the time of October's incident. According to court records, he was sentenced for grand larceny in Franklin County Circuit Court in July 2021 to a four-month active sentence, followed by two years of supervised probation.

Hupp said an autopsy found Clement had died from a "single gunshot to the chest," and an analysis of the victim's blood found he "had high levels of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death."

The prosecutor added that forensic scientists determined that the cartridge casing on the front porch matched a 9mm pistol located in the upstairs apartment, the DNA on the pistol matched Hall's and the blood on Hall's clothing matched Clement's.

Hall was originally indicted on three felony charges — first-degree murder, using a firearm in the commission of murder and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

On Monday, Hall's first-degree murder charge was amended to second-degree murder under a plea agreement. On that charge, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, suspended after he serves 12.

On the firearm use and firearm possession charges, he got three years and five years respectively, both mandatory minimum sentences for the charges in Virginia.

Once he serves 20 years, Judge Chris Clemens said Hall will be placed on supervised probation for another five years.

Kimberly Thompson, Clement's sister, said Hall's comments in court were shocking.

"A part of me believes he really didn't mean to do it and it was a heated argument. Like I really do," Thompson said after Monday's hearing. "But then a part of me is like, ‘You’re here and your kids will still see you, and I have to look at my nephews knowing that they’re never going to know who Jeremy was.’ That is the hardest part. What he said was so heart-tearing."

"There was no win on either side," Thompson said. "Guns are not violent. People are violent. And if we can all just start loving each other and stop hating each other and put the guns down, it’d be a better place. We’re not going to change the entire world, but we can start with our town."

Emma Coleman (540) 981-3198

[email protected]

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Emma Coleman covers public safety and courts in the Roanoke Valley. She can be reached at (540) 981-3198 or [email protected].

Anthony L. Hall, 29, of Roanoke with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting, the 16th this year to take a life in the city.

Jeremy Clement, 36, of Roanoke died Oct. 28 after police say he was shot in the 900 block of Marshall Avenue Southwest.