NORFOLK
Several hundred people gathered Monday night at a candlelight vigil on the site where Maury High School star athlete Charles Humphrey was gunned down. They wip ed away tears, held hands and shared memories of the popular 18-year-old football player.

PORTSMOUTH The city manager announced the hiring of Edward G. Hargis as Portsmouth’s new police chief Monday night and described him as a “cop’s cop.” Hargis, who starts today , said he would bring his experience in one of the most violent cities in the United States to the Portsmouth position.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Police are investigating a bank robbery that occurred this morning at a Wachovia on the 600 block of Independence Boulevard. At about 9:30 a.m., a man entered the bank branch, jumped over the counter and demanded money from the tellers, said Margie Long, Virginia Beach police spokeswoman. No weapon was seen.

VIRGINIA BEACH A 27-year-old man was ordered today to serve life in prison and pay a $100,000 fine for the brutal stabbing of his former boss’s wife. John Marshall Wise Jr. was convicted in October of first-degree murder. Prosecutors convinced jurors that Wise used a carving knife to stab and nearly decapitate Yolanda Crawford in November 2005.

RICHMOND A Virginia inmate is scheduled to be executed next month for killing a Winchester police officer in 1999.

Winchester Circuit Court set a Feb. 19 execution date for 44-year-old Edward Nathaniel Bell.

Bell was sentenced to death for killing Sgt. Ricky Timbrook. Prosecutors said Bell shot Timbrook in the face because he feared the officer would find him carrying a gun or drugs.

SUFFOLK

Police are investigating two cases of animal cruelty reported to officers during the New Year’s holiday.

On Dec. 31, a man called police to report a dead dog in the 8800 block of Gates Road, said Debbie George, city spokeswoman.

NORFOLK Angela Lechlitner seems a most unlikely murder victim. She was a shy, 28-year-old single gardener, transplanted here from a small Indiana town. Her social life revolved around her church, and leaned heavily toward Bible studies, popcorn-fueled game nights and parties to watch the TV series "Lost."

NORFOLK
When Charles Humphrey was a freshman at Maury High School, he might have run with the wrong crowd a little bit, friends said - he didn't take school too seriously and wasn't that interested in going to college.

CHESAPEAKE
Chesapeake police said they are looking for three men who robbed a store on Saturday night.

The men wore masks and one displayed a gun at the Brentwood Food Mart in the 1400 block of North George Washington Highway, said Officer Charles Thiebaud of the Chesapeake police.

They ran from the store after the robbery at 9:17 p.m., he said. No one was injured.

NORFOLK Homicides throughout Hampton Roads appear to have declined in 2008, with some cities reporting fewer slayings and others seeing about the same number. Overall, at least 98 homicides occurred in the region's seven largest cities. That was 25 percent less than the 131 reported in 2007.