Commonwealth v. Marquis Bunn; Man Sentenced to 23 Years for Murder at Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Virginia Beach, Va. – Colin D. Stolle, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the city of Virginia Beach, announced that Marquise Bunn, age 40, formerly of the 5100 block of George Washington Highway in Portsmouth, Virginia, was sentenced on charges of Second Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm. Bunn was found guilty after a four-day jury trial on June 1, 2026. Circuit Court Judge Scott J. Flax, who presided over the trial, sentenced Bunn to 43 years in prison with twenty (20) years suspended, leaving 23 years to serve.

The Commonwealth’s evidence proved that on the evening of December 23, 2023, a woman hosted an ugly sweater Christmas party at her house on Riverbend Road in Virginia Beach.  Marquise Bunn, who was the party host’s cousin, arrived at the party with his girlfriend, Carmen Prescott, and sister. A few hours into the party, a play fight between two of the attendees started outside of the house.  The victim, Antonio Wolfe, believed it to be serious and attempted to break up the fight.  The fight became physical at that point.  A window was broken during this fight, and the homeowner told everyone to leave. The fight broke up and the parties separated as one left, and the other was placed into a car that began to leave.  The involved individual then got back out of that car instead of leaving and reinitiated the fight with Wolfe.  Two others assisted Wolfe when another uninvolved partygoer who was wheelchair bound shot the attacker and ended the fight.  At that point Bunn pulled a firearm, shot the wheelchair bound man in the head, then turned and fired six (6) shots.  Four (4) of those shots struck Wolfe, with one shot being in his back.  Bunn and his girlfriend then fled the scene and hid out at a hotel. Wolfe died at the scene.  The man in the wheelchair sustained serious injuries, but survived the shooting, as did the initial attacker.

For several days, Bunn and his girlfriend moved around from hotels to residences to avoid the police. Police searched a residence in Portsmouth, Virginia, where Bunn was taken into custody.  Police recovered a magazine with bullets matching shell casings from the crime scene during a search warrant of that residence.  While in jail awaiting trial, Bunn told a fellow inmate that he shot both the man in the wheelchair and Wolfe.  He then instructed his girlfriend to put the murder weapon in a black bag and take it to a family member’s house. 

Carmen Prescott was arrested May 29, 2026, for Accessory After the Fact for Murder and Concealment of Evidence and is awaiting trial. 

Bunn has prior convictions for Possession I/II Drug, Identity Theft, Contempt (3 counts), and multiple probation violations.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Nickie L. Herron and Charles D. Agerter prosecuted this case. Please contact Macie Allen if additional information is desired.