HANOVER, Va. — A U.S. Navy officer has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 murder of his 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend after she refused to terminate her pregnancy.
Lt. Junior Grade Emmanuel Dewayne Coble, 27, was convicted in April of first-degree murder in the killing of Raquiah Paulette King. On Friday, he was sentenced to life behind bars in Hanover County Circuit Court.
On July 21, 2022, deputies with the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a woman’s body found near the intersection of Winns Church Road and Greenwood Road. The victim was later identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as King, of Hampton, Virginia.
Coble was arrested three weeks later on August 11, 2022, in Hampton. He was charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Investigators said Coble killed King after she refused his demand to abort their unborn child, then left her body on the side of the road.
Judge John Harris described Coble as “an extremely dangerous person” with “a depraved mind,” according to CBS affiliate WTVR in Richmond.
“I think the judge took this case very seriously,” Hanover County Commonwealth’s Attorney Mackenzie Babichenko told the station. “He wanted to make it very clear that this was inexcusable, unacceptable and that the defendant would be staying in prison forever.”
Coble has remained in custody since his arrest and is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
A Virginia Navy officer was sentenced to life for murdering his pregnant girlfriend and leaving her body on a roadside after she refused an abortion.