Charges were dismissed Tuesday (Nov. 1) against a suspect after two witnesses failed to appear in court to testify about the fatal shooting of Sierra Jenkins, a Virginian-Pilot reporter, and two others in Norfolk, Va., The Virginian-Pilot reported.

District Judge Michael Rosenblum denied the prosecutor’s request to grant a continuance in the case against Antoine M. Legrande Jr., 25, which would have given his office time to locate the missing witnesses. Legrande had faced three counts of second-degree murder and other charges.

Rosenblum told Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Miles that a different judge previously said no more continuances would be allowed. “I don’t believe I have the authority to override him,” Rosenblum stated, according to the Pilot.

Consequently, Miles asked Rosenblum to nolle prosequi the charges, meaning that the prosecution could not proceed because he couldn’t prove Legrande’s guilt without the testimony of the two witnesses.

The prosecutor subpoenaed three witnesses in the case, but only one of them appeared in court on Tuesday. All three witnesses were at the scene of the March 19 shooting outside the downtown Norfolk bar.

Rosenblum issued show cause orders that will require the two missing witnesses to appear in court on Nov. 30 to explain their absence.

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Jenkins, 25, Devon Harris, 25, and Marquel Andrews, 24, were in a crowd of people who walked out of the night club as it was closing. Harris, a semi-pro football player from Portsmouth, died at the scene. Jenkins died at the hospital. She and Harris had been friends since middle school. Andrews died three weeks later. Two other people were wounded.

Jenkins’ father, Maurice Jenkins, said after the shooting that his daughter started reporting breaking news with The Virginian-Pilot before moving to the education desk. She previously worked as an intern at Atlanta Magazine and CNN, before joining the Pilot in December 2020.

Norfolk police arrested Legrande two months after the shooting and charged him with three counts of second-degree murder, five counts of use of a firearm and two counts of malicious wounding. Initially, the police said an argument over a spilled drink sparked the shooting, but authorities have not disclosed why they suspected Legrande of the shooting.

“I haven’t seen any evidence that Mr. Legrande was involved in this,” Legrande’s attorney, Eric Korslund, said, adding that his client told investigators that he wasn’t at the bar on the night of the shooting, according to The Pilot.

However, the case isn’t over yet. The prosecutor said his office could refile the charges if enough evidence is gathered and witnesses come forward.