Re’Al Butler, 24, and J.C. Butler, 25, both from Hampton, Virginia, face first-degree murder and related charges for the June 1, 2024, ambush shooting death of 26-year-old Martez Johnson Corey on Old Buckroe Road. The brothers were arrested in March 2025, indicted in November 2025, and remain jailed awaiting trial on March 24, 2026.​
Shooting Details
Around 7:30 p.m., Corey was fatally shot multiple times (8-10 per family reports) while sitting on a family friend’s front porch near Robert R. Moton Elementary School; he died at the scene despite emergency efforts. Bullet holes remain visible on the house facade.​​
Investigation and Charges
Each brother is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, firearm use in a felony, shooting into an occupied dwelling, and discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school; J.C. faces an additional felon-in-possession count. Motive and specific evidence linking them have not been publicly disclosed.
Family Impact
Corey’s father, William, expressed frustration over the lack of disclosed motive or known relationship between his son and the Butlers, noting the closed-casket funeral and his ritual of visiting ashes sprinkled on his late wife’s grave.
