PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth Circuit Court jury found a man guilty of second-degree murder and two other charges Thursday in the murder of 34-year-old Rocco Nixon, according to the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.
Ryheem Jasaun Hargrow Pugh, was also found guilty of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and shooting in the commission of a felony in the June 1, 2023 murder of Nixon.
According to the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, evidence at trial indicated that on the morning of June 1, Pugh and Nixon arrived at the Gifted Minds Academy daycare center on King Street, where Nixon’s children attended.
Hargrow Pugh, according to evidence, was in a vehicle with the mother of Nixon’s children and the children, while Nixon was in a separate vehicle. Both Hargrow Pugh and Nixon got out of the vehicles and Hargrow Pugh fired shots at Nixon, striking him multiple times, and Nixon later died at the hospital.
Hargrow Pugh is scheduled for sentencing April 30.
Another woman, Angel Peterson-Bryant, who had been charged with accessory after the fact of murder, second-degree and providing false information to a criminal investigator, had those charges nolle prossed, or set aside, in Portsmouth General District Court last October.
