The 22-year-old health services management student was remembered for academic milestones and involvement in the university community.
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk State University is mourning senior Semaj Richelle Coleman, a 22-year-old health services management student whose death in an off-campus shooting has left classmates, faculty and relatives grieving as police pursue a criminal case.
Coleman, of Mollusk, Virginia, died after being shot late Oct. 24 in a parking lot in the 5700 block of East Virginia Beach Boulevard. Police said their preliminary investigation determined that the shooting was accidental. Matthew B. Croslin, 23, of Newport News, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm. The charges are allegations, and police have not described the shooting as intentional.
In announcing Coleman’s death to the university community, Norfolk State highlighted the senior’s academic progress and campus involvement. The university said she was affiliated with its Spartans Promise to Persist with Purpose program and had recently been inducted into the National Association for Allied Health Professions. School officials described those accomplishments as important milestones in her time as a Spartan.
The university’s Office of the President extended condolences to Coleman’s family, friends, classmates, faculty members and others who knew her. Officials acknowledged that the death of a member of the campus community could bring shock and grief and said counseling and other support services were available to students, faculty and staff.
Coleman’s death also reached beyond the Norfolk State campus. She was from Mollusk in Virginia’s Northern Neck, and local reporting identified her as a Lancaster County resident. Family members told WAVY that she was loved both in the Northern Neck and in the Norfolk community. The university’s statement focused on her studies, involvement and recent professional recognition rather than the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Police said they were notified at about 11:45 p.m. Oct. 24 that Coleman had arrived at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with a life-threatening gunshot wound. She later died. Croslin was taken into custody, and police announced the charges the following day. He was being held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond, according to the department.
Later reporting based on court documents said Coleman and Croslin had been with others in a Waffle House parking lot and were discussing firearms before Croslin showed her a gun. The firearm discharged during that interaction, according to the reported documents. Witnesses said there had been no argument or fight beforehand. Those details form part of the developing criminal case and have not been established as findings by a court.
Norfolk police said from the outset that their preliminary investigation indicated an accidental shooting. That determination does not resolve the criminal allegations against Croslin. Involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling charges can involve conduct that prosecutors allege caused a death without an intent to kill, and Croslin is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proved guilty.
For Norfolk State, the immediate impact is the loss of a student nearing the end of her undergraduate studies. Coleman was pursuing health services management and had recently reached a professional milestone through her induction into an allied health organization. The university has not announced additional public memorial details in the material reviewed for this report.
The police investigation and criminal proceedings remain ongoing. Norfolk State continues to make support services available as the campus community mourns Coleman and authorities examine the circumstances that led to her death.
Author note: Last updated October 27, 2026.