PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A man found guilty of shooting and killing twin brothers Alvin and Calvin Joyner and shooting and injuring another woman on Nashville Avenue in Portsmouth in 2023 was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday.
Joseph Alfonzo Cross had been found guilty on Sept. 25, 2025 of aggravated murder, two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting deaths of twin brothers Alvin and Calvin Joyner and shooting and injuring a woman, according to the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Man found guilty in Portsmouth double murder
The Joyner brothers, with Alvin Joyner driving, were traveling with a woman when they stopped to pick up Cross and another woman who was with him in the area of Deep Creek Boulevard and Palmer Street, according to trial evidence.
When the group reached Nashville Avenue, Cross, who was sitting in the backseat, pulled out a gun and shot Alvin Joyner in the back of the head, killing him, according to trial evidence. Cross then pointed the gun at the other people in the car and demanded money. Cross shot Calvin Joyner to death, and then shot the woman who had initially been in the vehicle. That woman testified during trial she survived by playing dead in order to keep from being shot again…