VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A deadly weekend shooting is ushering in changes at a shopping center in the Resort City and has sparked an investigation.
Cesar Bermudez Evans, 21, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Juelle Morton, 20 at the Renaissance Place shopping center off North Great Neck Road at 2 a.m. last Saturday. According to video recovered by detectives, it shows Evans walking from his car and shooting Morton several times. Now, city officials say they’re taking action.
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Virginia Beach Councilman Stacy Cummings confirmed to 10 On Your Side in a phone interview that recent changes are directly related to events that have happened because of activity at two nightclubs — Central 111 and Venue 112 — in the Renaissance Place shopping center.
Cummings says he jumped on the phone the day after the shooting to schedule a meeting with Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate and City Manager Patrick Duhaney about the violence at the shopping center.
“It was determined to contact the ABC Board and to see if they could do an investigation about these establishments,” Cummings said.
City officials then reached out to the shopping center’s landlord, the Breeden Company, who then put out a memo to all business owners. It restricts the hours of operation to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. It states any tenant that breaches the operating hours will be in immediate default of its lease, and the landlord has the right to take immediate possession of the property.
“Really, the only two venues that ever stayed open past 11 were these two establishments in question,” Cummings said.
Patrol services will also be there after dark escorting people to their cars, and they’ve been told to call police to have anyone loitering arrested for trespassing.
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“We are so thankful to our city councilman for being swift and hearing our voices,” said Cait Jacox, who lives behind the shopping center.
But she’s skeptical as to who will enforce these changes, and says she still feels unsafe.
“Is it just a Band-aid? Is it a slap on the wrist,” Jacox said. Is it to keep us quiet for the next month or two until everything smooths over and then they go back to regular business hours?”
Meanwhile, Cummings feels confident.
“Certainly, if it wasn’t before, it’s certainly on the radar screen now,” Cummings said.
Cummings said the ABC Board is conducting an investigation, and 10 On Your Side will keep on top of what they find.
10 On Your Side has also reached out to Virginia Beach Police to see how many times officers have responded to that area in the last year. They’re working on getting us that information.
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