A Norfolk man has been sentenced to life plus 33 years for violent crimes in early 2023, including sodomizing his biological and attacking a man he tried to carjack afterward.

received the sentence following a combination of jury convictions and a plea agreement finalized earlier this year.

The Incident

According to details that emerged from the case, on the morning of January 7, 2023, Melvin O’Neal III, now 32, was visiting his mother at her Wake Circle apartment.

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He went to the bathroom under the guise of taking a shower, turned on the water, and then called to his mother to come check something.

When she came in, he launched a violent attack. He began beating her over her head and knocked her to the ground. He dragged her to her bedroom, continued beating her for resisting, and sexually assaulted her. That attack was confirmed by DNA obtained from evidence obtained from her medical examination.

After the attack, he demanded his mother get him a cigarette, which gave her the opportunity to escape the apartment.

Less than an hour later, O’Neal, who was on foot, approached a man detailing a car at a residence on Norview Avenue. While the man was vacuuming the passenger side, O’Neal jumped into the driver’s seat.

The two began to fight and in the midst of that battle, O’Neal reversed the vehicle and crashing it into the home. The two men continued fighting police arrived, and they recognized O’Neal was the person responsible for the assault on his mother.

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The carjacking victim suffered multiple injuries, including a severe facial wound from O’Neal biting him in.

For the assault on his mother, O’Neal was charged with assaulting a family member, malicious wounding, and two counts of forcible sodomy. For the male victim, he was charged with carjacking and malicious wounding in that attack.

Competency & Court Proceedings

Initally, O’Neal was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was later restored to competency and pleaded not guilty to all charges. His legal team requested separate jury trials for the two incidents.

In October 2024, a jury convicted O’Neal of carjacking and a reduced charge of unlawful wounding.

Just before the trial involving his mother was set to begin in March 2025, O’Neal entered a plea agreement to admit guilt for one sodomy charge and malicious wounding in exchange for one sodomy charge being dismissed.

O’Neal has a documented history of mental illness, substance use disorder, and traumatic brain injury, and he reportedly drank and used drugs the day of the incident.

Sentencing

The plea agreement didn’t speak to sentencing leaving the matter to the court. O’Neal received:

Life in prison for forcible sodomy
10 years for malicious wounding
20 years for carjacking
3 years for unlawful wounding

Commonwealth’s Attorney Responds

“Mr. O’Neal’s crimes here were the culmination of a lifetime of criminal behavior, traumatic experiences, and mental illness,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “What Mr. O’Neal did to the victims in these cases, including his own mother, is inexcusable and demonstrates that he is a risk to the safety of other people.”

Fatehi emphasized that while the sentence delivers justice, it cannot undo the lasting harm to the victims.