A Chesapeake man who opened fire on an occupied vehicle during a road-rage confrontation in Virginia Beach back in January has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but three years suspended. Kayleb Coker pleaded guilty to five separate charges stemming from the shooting, which happened near the intersection of Dam Neck Road and Taylor Farm Road.
Coker pleaded guilty to attempted malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, unlawfully shooting into an occupied vehicle, shooting from an occupied vehicle, and shooting in a public place, according to WAVY.com. The Virginia Beach Police Department responded to a call on the morning of January 22 reporting shots fired during a road-rage incident, and officers arriving on scene discovered that an occupied vehicle had been shot several times. The report did not mention any injuries to the person inside the vehicle.
As part of his sentence, Coker must complete three years of good behavior once he is released and will be placed on supervised probation. He is also barred from any contact with the victim and was required to forfeit his weapon to the Virginia Beach Police Department.
Sentence Exceeds Standard Guidelines
The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said Coker's sentence came in above the high end of standard sentencing guidelines, which ranged from seven months to one year and 10 months. That gap between the guideline range and the decade-long sentence underscores how seriously prosecutors treated the shooting.
Investigators credited detectives with the Crime Gun Investigative Squad, working with assistance from the Real Time Crime Center, for identifying the suspect vehicle and its driver. Detectives ultimately located Coker and took him into custody without incident, closing out the case that began with the January morning gunfire near Dam Neck Road.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Hampton Roads Highways
Coker's case arrives amid a string of road-rage shootings reported across the region. In October 2024, two separate road-rage shootings occurred in Hampton Roads within the first two weekends of the month, according to WTKR. One shooting near the I-664 Pughsville Road off-ramp left one driver with non-life-threatening injuries, Virginia State Police said, while a separate road-rage shooting in James City County on October 5 injured two people.
Under Virginia law, maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle in a way that could put a person's life in peril is a Class 4 felony, according to the relevant state statute. Separate state code also makes it unlawful to use or display a firearm in a threatening manner while committing or attempting certain felonies, including malicious wounding, per Virginia law.
