Jury Convicts Man of 1st Degree Murder for Bludgeoning, Stabbing Woman to Death in 2023
NORFOLK, Va. — A jury convicted Demetrios Bryant, 31, on Wednesday of first-degree murder for bludgeoning and stabbing to death 54-year-old Michelle Antionette Ford-Outlaw, then appearing to bite off pieces of her body, inside Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s residence in late 2023.
The entirety of the murder was captured on security camera footage inside Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s residence, a rooming house on Peterson Street. On the morning of Dec. 28, 2023, Mr. Bryant, another resident of the rooming house, slammed Ms. Ford-Outlaw into her closed bedroom door, knocking down the door and causing Ms. Ford-Outlaw to fall face-down onto the floor. Mr. Bryant could be seen yelling at her and grabbing a large, empty glass bottle while Ms. Ford-Outlaw struggled to turn over. From the ground, Ms. Ford-Outlaw raised her arm and leg attempting to defend herself, and Mr. Bryant swung the bottle down onto her head. Mr. Bryant crouched down over Ms. Ford-Outlaw after the first swing and beat her over her head with the bottle for the next two minutes, striking her dozens more times.
Mr. Bryant then got up, set the bottle down, retrieved a knife, pointed at the security camera in the kitchen, crouched over Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s body, and stabbed her over 30 times in her back and head. After stabbing her body, Mr. Bryant could be seen appearing to kneel and bite into Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s flesh for several more minutes.
Within five minutes of Mr. Bryant having committed the murder, family members arrived at Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s residence to visit her, saw her body on the floor, and called 911. When the family members tried to enter the residence, Mr. Bryant came outside covered in blood and confronted them until one of Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s other roommates arrived. The roommate physically detained Mr. Bryant until Norfolk Police arrived.
Based on their investigation, Norfolk Police charged Mr. Bryant with second-degree murder, and the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office secured an indictment from a grand jury against Mr. Bryant for first-degree murder. Mr. Bryant pleaded not guilty to his charge and requested a trial by jury, which began on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
While his case was pending, Mr. Bryant claimed to have blacked out during the murder and claimed to have been insane at the time he committed the murder. At trial, the mental health professional who deemed Mr. Bryant to have been legally sane at the time of the murder testified that Mr. Bryant may have been “malingering” and using insanity as an excuse. Mr. Bryant chose to testify in his defense and claimed to have blacked out but, on cross-examination, could not deny that he was feeling angry and had “kill, kill, kill” on his mind at the time.
After hearing the evidence and arguments and deliberating for about 15 minutes on Wednesday, the jury convicted Mr. Bryant as charged. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise, who presided over the trial, set Mr. Bryant’s sentencing hearing on Jan. 30, 2026.
“Committing a murder with a firearm is all too easy,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Bludgeoning and stabbing someone to death requires far more physical force and effort: true premeditation. Mr. Bryant may not have been all there when he killed the victim, but he was legally sane, he is responsible for this terrible crime, and we will seek a sentence that reflects the brutality and seriousness of this offense. My heart goes out to Ms. Ford-Outlaw’s family for their tragic and traumatic loss. My office and I will continue to focus our efforts on the individuals who commit murders and other violent crimes in our City.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie G. Johnson and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Abigail L. Ottinger are prosecuting Mr. Bryant’s case, and Norfolk Police Detectives Maura A. Flatley and Kyle D. Austin led the investigation.
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