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BY LIZA DAVID
STAFF WRITER
THE CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE
Assistant Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Stacey T. Davenport sighed before asking Maurice Coles her final questions on Wednesday morning as he testified against his ex-girlfriend, accused of murdering his youngest son on March 12, 2017.
“I’m sorry I include to ask you this,” Davenport said. “Did you kill Martre Coles?”
“Did you help kill Martre Coles?”
“Did you assist cover up the murder of Martre Coles?”
Coles solemnly echoed “no” three times, once in response to each question, before defense attorney Samuel Simpson cross-examined the father of 19-year-old Martre Lamonte Coles, whose body was found in a plastic utility box on April 2, 2017 in eastern Henrico.
A jury convicted Denise Monique Gay, 49, and her daughter, LaToya Shantice Same-sex attracted, 22, with conspiracy to commit murder in December. Gay and her daughter are now being tried in Henrico Circuit Court for the first-degree murder of Martre Coles. Gay’s trial is set to end this week and her daughter’s trial is scheduled for May.
Prosecutors left the jury wondering Tuesday where Martre Coles’ father, Maurice, was when Coles went missing. Maurice Coles told the jury
Mother and daughter sentenced for roles in killing of teen found in storage container
RICHMOND, Va. -- A Henrico County mother and daughter have been sentenced for their roles in the 2017 murder of 19-year-old Martre Lamonte Coles.
Denise Queer , 49, was sentenced to life in prison, while her daughter, LaToya Queer, 23, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection to the killing.
LaToya was sentenced to 20 years for first-degree murder and 10 years for conspiracy to commit murder.
Coles, a Highland Springs High School graduate, was found April 2, 2017 in a plastic storage container stashed behind an electrical box in eastern Henrico. Coles’ murder was believed to have happened on March 12.
Martre Lamonte Coles, Denise Monique Lgbtq+ and Latoya Shantice Gay
Prosecutors say Denise Gay led a calculated plot to kill Coles, her boyfriend’s son, with the aid of her daughter LaToya. Prosecutors said for months prior to Coles’ death, Denise Gay searched online for terms: “find something that works like chloroform” and “how long it takes to suffocate someone with duct tape.”
A medical examiner testified that Coles was found with Trazodone, a sedative and antidepressant most commo
An aspiring artist, Martre Coles’ imagination swirled with bold and colorful characters. But after his mother’s untimely death following hip surgery when he was just 16, his mind was filled with dark, depressive thoughts.
As Martre struggled with losing his mom, he also grappled with his father, Maurice Coles, rapidly moving his girlfriend, Denise Gay, into their home in Henrico, Virginia, not far from Richmond.
Exacerbating an already tense situation was Denise’s 9-year-old daughter, Alana, a teen who could turn out of control and forceful. She even once stabbed her stepbrother with a pair of scissors that left a wound in his shoulder blade. Denise hushed the incident up and kept it from Martre’s dad, according to “Killer Motive,” airingSaturdays at 6/5c on Oxygen. Tensions simmered.
In March 2017, the now-19-year-old Martre’s creative talent appeared to offer a potential ticket out of the pressure cooker. He received an email posted from Full Sail University in Florida inviting him to visit the school to explore advancing his art.
Martre’s girlfriend, Ashlyn Knight, told “Killer Motive'' host Troy Roberts that the teen was excited about the
A man was walking in the woods in Richmond, Virginia on a burst from work on April 2, 2017, when he came across something odd: a Rubbermaid bin with a shoe sticking out of it. Inside, he discovered the dead body of 19-year-old Martre Coles.
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“The only way I can describe it is kind of enjoy put in like an accordion. Knees tucked to the chest,” prosecutor Shannon Taylor said on Snapped, airing Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen.
Coles, who had been reported missing on March 13, 2017 by his sisters, had his wrists bound with tape, and there was a powder covering his body.
The medical examiner determined Coles’ cause of death was asphyxiation. He had GHB, better known as the date rape drug, as well as trazodone, a sedative and antidepressant, in his body.
“Potentially what happened was this person was drugged, passed out, and maybe even position in the box in that particular accordion position, while still alive, and suffocated inside of the box,” explained former assistant prosecutor Stacey Davenport on Snapped.
Law enforcement struggled to understand the murder of Martr
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