Raquiah Paulette King Obituary, Death; – A 27-year-old Naval Officer from Virginia, Emmanuel Dewayne Coble, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Raquiah Paulette King. It has been reported that Coble killed King after she declined to undergo an abortion that he had requested.
According to WTVR, Navy Lt. Junior Grade Emmanuel Dewayne Coble received his life sentence on Friday, July 18, for the murder of King in 2022. In April 2025, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, the use of a firearm in the commission of murder, the murder of a pregnant woman, first-degree killing of a fetus, and concealing or transporting a body, as reported by the outlet.
“I believe the judge approached this case with utmost seriousness,” stated Hanover County Commonwealth Attorney Mackenzie Babichenko to WTVR. “He considered all the evidence and the impact, making it clear that this was inexcusable and unacceptable, and that the defendant would remain in prison for life.”
“I am convinced that every year of the sentence was justified due to the brutality and heinous nature of his actions, as well as the considerable efforts he made to conceal the crime or at least attempt to do so.”
Murderer
As per a 2022 statement from the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, the incident took place on July 21, 2022. Deputies were dispatched to the intersection of Winns Church Road and Greenwood Road after receiving a report of a body discovered alongside the roadway.
The victim was identified as Raquiah Paulette King. Emmanuel Dewayne Coble was arrested weeks later, on August 11, 2022, and charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
During his trial, as reported by WTVR, Coble confessed to fatally shooting King during an altercation. He subsequently transported her body and disposed of it in the woods in Hanover County, Virginia. However, Coble maintained that her death was accidental.
Pregnancy
Prosecutors, however, presented evidence during the trial that contradicted his assertion. This evidence indicated that King, prior to her death, had…
