NORFOLK, Va. – Ferrari Aramis Ferdinand, a 30-year-old Virginia Beach man, was sentenced in Norfolk Circuit Court on Friday, April 1, 2022, to 17 years in prison for the 2019 murder of Quontrell Deon Snowden, a 31-year-old Norfolk man, at the Downtown Norfolk Transit Center.
Around 11 p.m. on May 29, 2019, Mr. Ferdinand and Mr. Snowden got into an argument at the Downtown Norfolk Transit Station at 434 St. Paul’s Blvd. Other people were around, either waiting for the bus or passing through the area. The argument became physical, and video surveillance captured the two men fighting for a short time before Mr. Snowden began backing away from Mr. Ferdinand. Mr. Snowden was already several feet away and still backing up with his hands up when Mr. Ferdinand pulled out a gun, started advancing on Mr. Snowden, and shot Mr. Snowden seven times, continuing to shoot even after Mr. Snowden dropped to the ground.
Norfolk Police officers were already in the area when they heard shots fired and quickly apprehended Mr. Ferdinand. Mr. Snowden, mortally wounded, lost consciousness shortly after police and paramedics went to treat him and later died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Mr. Ferdinand admitted to police that he had shot Mr. Snowden, but Mr. Ferdinand claimed that he had only pulled the trigger twice and that he was acting out of concern that Mr. Snowden had a gun. Mr. Snowden was unarmed.
A Norfolk jury heard Mr. Ferdinand’s trial in November of 2021 and found Mr. Ferdinand guilty of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of murder. On Friday, Judge John R. Doyle III, sentenced Mr. Ferdinand to 20 years in prison for the charge of second-degree murder, suspending another six years on the conditions of 10 years of uniform good behavior and the completion of three years of supervised probation. The use of a firearm in the commission of murder carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison, bringing Mr. Ferdinand’s total active prison time to 17 years.
“Mr. Snowden died tragically and senselessly at Mr. Ferdinand’s hands, and for nothing,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Rather than do a thousand other, better things, Mr. Ferdinand chose to introduce a gun to the argument, to kill Mr. Snowden, and to endanger other people simply waiting to ride a city bus. Nothing will undo the crime that Mr. Ferdinand has committed, but we have held Mr. Ferdinand accountable. We hope that this sentence will bring some closure and peace to Mr. Snowden’s family.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michelle L. Newkirk prosecuted Mr. Ferdinand’s case. Please contact Nia Tariq at 757-620-5454 for more information.
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