Petersburg Police identify victim, suspect in city's 18th homicide of the year

Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index
·2 min read

PETERSBURG – Police have identified the man killed Sunday night on Custer Street in the city’s Delectable Heights area, as well as the person accused of killing him.

Robert D. Pugh, 40, was shot around 6:45 p.m. in the 1100 block of Custer Street. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

Police arrested Kenneth Hunter, 26, on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was arraigned Monday in Petersburg General District Court, where a preliminary hearing was set for Feb. 24.

No motive was given for the homicide, Petersburg’s 18th of the year. That ties the number of murders in 2021 and is three less than the total last year. Since 2020, 79 people have been killed in the city

The following people have been killed in Petersburg in 2023:

  • Javarius Desmore, killed March 14 on Pin Oaks Drive;

  • Antonio Walker, killed April 5 on Henrico Street;

  • Shaun Hankins, killed April 24 on Leavenworth Street;

  • Brian Chambers, killed May 24 at the Budget Inn on Jamestown Drive;

  • Tewana Williams, killed May 27 on Talley Avenue;

  • Anthony Williams, killed June 3 on Gillfield Drive;

  • K’Von Morgan (juvenile), killed June 17 at Pecan Acres Apartments;

  • Ke’Asia Powell, killed June 26 on East Wythe Street;

  • Lucky Dwayne Burress, killed June 26 on Berkeley Avenue;

  • Darrell D. Morton, killed July 6 at Crater Square Apartments;

  • Kirk Nims, killed July 11 on Halifax Street.

  • Johnny Englehart Jr., killed Aug. 8 on Rome Street;

  • Matthew Gibbs, 19, of Columbia, South Carolina, killed Aug. 24 on Wakefield Street;

  • Adrionna Brooks West, 20, of Chester, killed Sept. 3 in the 700 block of High Street;

  • Fatin Ibn Hassan Rhone, 29, killed Sept. 24 at the intersection of North Boulevard and South Sycamore Street;

  • Walter Sykes III, 30, killed Oct. 14 near the intersection of Sixth and Patrick streets; and

  • Robert Morton Booker Jr., 65, killed Oct. 23 outside a Family Dollar store in Walnut Hill Plaza.

Police have made eight arrests in them.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg Police ID victim, suspect in city's 18th homicide of 2023