‘Tried to kill us twice’: Two Virginia men who were found not guilty, yet sentenced to life speak for first time
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HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- For the first time, we are hearing directly from the two men who were found not guilty of a Sussex County police officer's 1998 murder, yet still sentenced to life in prison.
It’s been just about one year since Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne, otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," were able to walk out of prison following a presidential commutation. They spent over two decades behind bars for a murder they say they did not commit.
ALL COVERAGE: Not Guilty, Sentenced to Life
8News first began looking into this case in 2016. Our investigative reporters have previously interviewed the two men over the past decade -- by phone from prison and briefly over Zoom as Richardson navigated federal restrictions upon release. But our visit to the Claiborne family home in mid-February marked the first time the Waverly Two were free to sit down for an exclusive, unrestricted, face-to-face interview.
Richardson and Claiborne told us that they still don’t understand how they ended up in this situation.
"Two guys, out having fun and everything … and just being snatched straight off the street," Richardson said. "And it's like we're thrown straight into the lion's den. You ain't never experienced none of this before, and now, you have to adapt to a whole new life that … you've only seen this on TV."
Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," during a Feb. 2026 interview with 8News at the Claiborne family home in Henrico. (Photo: Ryan Nadeau/8News)
While they are both grateful for their freedom, they are still fighting to prove their innocence.
"I'm reaching out to [Attorney General] Jay Jones and whoever else is in position to help us," Claiborne said. "I want them to do their job. Clear our names. We innocent."
Their perspective: Plea deals taken to save their lives
This story begins nearly three decades ago, when 25-year-old officer Allen Gibson of the Waverly Police Department was shot and killed after a struggle with his own gun near Waverly Village Apartments in April 1998. Both Richardson and Claiborne were swiftly named as suspects, despite virtually no evidence connecting them to the crime.
Ferrone Claiborne [left], Terence Richardson [middle] and Allen Gibson [right]. (Photo: 8News)
The case came before the Sussex County Circuit Court where, in late 1999, Richardson and Claiborne say their defense teams told them that they would be put to death if their case went to trial. Richardson was offered a reduced sentence of five years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Under his own deal, Claiborne was able to walk out of the courtroom and go home in exchange for pleading guilty to misdemeanor accessory after the fact.
"I think it exemplified the fact that they knew it wasn't us," Claiborne said when asked about the deals. "Because if you thought that two Black men actually killed a white police officer, you going for the death penalty."
MORE: How two Virginia men were charged with officer’s 1998 murder despite lack of evidence
Richardson stressed that, even when he was looking what seemed like certain death in the face, he didn't want to take the deal -- but he felt he had no other choice.
"I didn't want to be sitting up in prison for something I didn't do," Richardson said. "But I allowed the lawyer to scare me back into it, because he said, 'We understand that, even if you didn't do it, they will make somebody wear this case. And right now, it's y'all, and you will get the death penalty.' So what are we supposed to do?"
At the time, neither he nor Claiborne knew that Richardson's defense attorney, David Boone, had penned a letter in February 1999 -- months before the plea deals were offered to them -- saying he understood that the Commonwealth was not seeking the death penalty.
Attorney David Boone's letter to attorney David Chappell regarding the Waverly Two in February 1999. (Taken from court documents obtained by 8News.)
"Did you know that was not on the table?" asked 8News anchor Deanna Allbrittin.
"No," Richardson said. "Because he didn't tell us. Because he was telling us that day that, 'You would get the death penalty.'"
They also didn't know about the potentially exculpatory evidence pointing to a different suspect who also matched the eyewitness descriptions given by Officer Gibson before he died and a young eyewitness. Both the Sussex County prosecutor and Richardson's attorney have testified to state courts in recent years that they never saw several pieces of evidence that Richardson's legal team now hopes will allow his conviction to be overturned.
MORE: How two Virginia men were charged with officer’s 1998 murder despite lack of evidence
"If the police department is hiding this evidence, what is the lawyer supposed to do, or investigate? The Commonwealth don't have it," Richardson said. "So how's the lawyer supposed to do anything?"
Whether law enforcement intentionally hid the evidence is up for debate. But what is clear is that no attorney involved in this case -- not the prosecutors, nor the defense attorneys -- had access to that evidence leading up to the Waverly Two's guilty pleas.
Not guilty, yet sentenced to life: Deals used against them
Their plea deals didn't end their troubles.
Gibson’s family, unhappy with the deals, asked the federal courts to take a look at the case -- and the Waverly Two had to face the legal system a second time. While that sounds like double jeopardy, it isn't, as the trials took place in two separate jurisdictions.
Claiborne told 8News that, when he first heard that their case would be examined by the federal government, he was almost hopeful that they would "get it right."
"We got a chance -- we want to prove that they got the wrong people, man," Claiborne said of how he felt at the time.
He said those hopes were quickly dashed when federal prosecutors instead labeled the two as "kingpins" of the local "Waverly Crew," painting Gibson's murder as a "drug deal gone wrong."
The federal indictment for Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne, highlighting the allegations that they were involved in Waverly-area drug trafficking. (Photo: 8News)
Both men deny ever selling drugs. Claiborne emphasized that he was a teenager attending school in Richmond between 1991 and 1993, when federal prosecutors claimed he was leading this drug trafficking ring.
"I was 15 years [old] and they label me a 'drug kingpin' -- I don't even think I had ... I didn't even have a bike to ride at the time," Claiborne said.
This time around, their case actually went to trial and was heard by a grand jury. Notably, that same exculpatory evidence that was never shared at the state level was also absent at the federal level.
Even without that evidence, the jury found Richardson and Claiborne not guilty of Gibson's murder. It did convict them on a drug charge.
However, in a rare legal maneuver, the presiding federal judge Robert E. Payne chose to sentence the Waverly Two to life in prison on that drug charge, citing their previous state guilty pleas and what he stated was his personal certainty of their guilt.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding Robert E. Payne's 2001 sentencing of Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne. (Photo: 8News)
"These people sit here and give us a capital murder charge for something we didn't even do -- we get past that, and turn right around, and they put you in there for life," Richardson said.
"After you were found not guilty," Claiborne said.
"Right!" Richardson said. "That's the craziest thing in the world."
With that judge's decision, the Waverly Two were taken to prison, where they sat for the next two and a half decades.
What they didn't know: A young eyewitness, another suspect
Attorney Jarrett Adams, who took interest in getting the Waverly Two exonerated after seeing 8News' investigation, has spearheaded their fight to prove their innocence for the past several years.
It's with his aid that the several pieces of evidence not made available to the Waverly Two during either of their court battles were uncovered.
Shannequia Gay's original statement of what she witnessed on April 25, 1998 regarding Allen Gibson's murder. Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.
Shannequia Gay's original statement of what she witnessed on April 25, 1998 regarding Allen Gibson's murder. Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.
Shannequia Gay's original statement of what she witnessed on April 25, 1998 regarding Allen Gibson's murder. Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.
This included the statement of an eyewitness, then-9-year-old Shannequia Gay, who told investigators she saw the murderer -- but described a man who looked nothing like Richardson. She said the suspect was a man with dreadlocks, while Richardson wore short cornrows.
Her description of the murderer also lined up with how Gibson, in his dying declaration, spoke of the person who killed him: "hair that would resemble dreadlocks, pulled back into a ponytail."
Gay was also shown a photo lineup. From among those photographed, she picked someone who appears to have long dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail, as Gibson described.
A photo array shown to Shannequia Gay in an attempt to identify the man who shot and killed Allen Gibson. (Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.)
A photo array shown to Shannequia Gay in an attempt to identify the man who shot and killed Allen Gibson. (Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.)
A photo array shown to Shannequia Gay in an attempt to identify the man who shot and killed Allen Gibson. (Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.)
A photo array shown to Shannequia Gay in an attempt to identify the man who shot and killed Allen Gibson. (Taken from federal court documents obtained by 8News.)
The person in the photo indicated by Gay could also be the same man identified by an anonymous caller on a Virginia State Police answering machine — but Virginia State Police never once interviewed him as a suspect.
"How'd you let him [the potential suspect] go? That's the crazy part," Richardson said. "You picked the person up, and you let him go! Then they pick me up the next day for it … [but he is] exactly what the officer described."
Court documents showing the mugshot of Terence Richardson [left] alongside the man in a lineup [right] that a 9-year-old witness to Allen Gibson's death picked out as his murderer. (Photo: 8News)
Though the lineup contained the photographs of several people, Richardson said he's not among them.
"If I'm the one that did it, why don't you have my picture in the photo lineup for her to pick from? Nobody ever answered that question," Richardson said. "You ain't had no picture of me. So how do I pop up and be the person the next day for it?"
When testifying during a mid-2024 court hearing on this case, Gay -- now a grown woman -- was asked if she'd ever seen Richardson before.
Shannequia Gay's testimony regarding Terence Richardson during a May 2024 evidentiary hearing. (Taken from court documents provided to 8News.)
"She said no, she's never seen me before," Richardson said. "So I'm not the one that you saw out there that day! I didn't have dreadlocks!"
These missing pieces of evidence, in addition to several other issues with the Waverly Two's court proceedings — including contradicting testimonies, the potential bribery of witnesses, possible conflicts of interest and more — have served as ammunition in their battle to prove their innocence.
Prison left its scars, but they clung to hope
When asked, Richardson and Claiborne had a difficult time talking about what prison was like. Claiborne said he does what he can to avoid thinking about it at all.
"I just get in my feelings when I'm telling people this story, man … In a million years, we would have never thought that me and him would be going through this," Richardson said.
Richardson was brought to tears as he recalled how he felt like he and Claiborne had become the "walking dead."
Terence Richardson of the "Waverly Two" becoming emotional during a Feb. 2026 interview with 8News at the Claiborne family home in Henrico. (Photo: Paul Nevadomski/8News)
“These people tried to kill us twice,” he said, highly emotional. "Twice. Twice! Twice, they tried to kill us! And that's hard for somebody that ain't ever been in no trouble."
Time seemed to slow down behind bars, with seconds feeling like minutes -- but they said one thing kept them hanging on.
"Everyone always asks me, 'How did you do it?' I say, 'Because I knew that we was innocent,'" Richardson said. "This is how we did it. We were innocent. And that's what we stuck with. Knowing that we was innocent -- knowing that, if we go in there, and we give up, then we're gonna be in there the rest of our life. So we can't give up."
Things changed in January 2025, when former president Joe Biden commuted their sentences as one of his final actions in office.
"Do you think, if he thought we murdered a police officer or whatever, we'd be sitting here today, talking? Or having this interview?" Claiborne said.
While this action did not grant them full pardons, it did allow both Richardson and Claiborne to walk out of FCI Petersburg Medium in March and April 2025, respectively.
Ferrone Claiborne [left] and Terence Richardson [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," on the day of Claiborne's release from prison. (Photo: Lindsey West/8News)
"Giving up was never an option," Claiborne said. "I felt in my heart, 100%, that one day, we would be free. I knew it. I knew it."
Adjusting to life beyond bars: The good and the bad
The Waverly Two has faced several challenges in getting used to "outside" life after so long behind bars. At the time of their initial arrests, Richardson was 27 years old and Claiborne was 22 years old. Nearly three decades have passed since then.
“We go in there as young men -- we come out, we gray,” Richardson said. “I gotta stand in the mirror and look at this every day.”
Both Richardson and Claiborne spoke about how their convictions hang over their heads like a "dark cloud." Not only does it place restrictions on their movements -- as they are currently under federal supervision, which is a form of parole -- but it also impacts how they interact with others.
“You have a spotlight put on you, that is not even our spotlight to even have,” Richardson said. “And it’s messed up.”
The Waverly Two said they are constantly "living in fear" because they continue to be seen as "cop killers."
Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," during a Feb. 2026 interview with 8News at the Claiborne family home in Henrico. (Photo: Ryan Nadeau/8News)
"We don't know how people are going to look at us with it," Richardson said. "We don't know what's going to happen if the police stop us. They gonna be more aggressive with us, when they run our name[s] and they sit there and look at that and be like, 'Oh, these the dudes that did it!'"
Claiborne said that, when he sees a police car pull behind him on the road, it makes him extremely nervous.
"I'm holding the [wheel] with both [hands,] I'm looking out the mirror, looking behind me," Claiborne said. "I might make a right turn just to get them from behind, because I don't know what to expect."
On a more positive note, Richardson said that he tries to be open about his history when talking with everyday people and that he's had multiple good experiences doing so.
"Some of the people ask me, 'Oh, hold up, you're the one who just came home?' I'm like, 'Yeah,'" he said. "[And they're like,] 'Oh, Lord, I can't believe I'm talking to you!'"
Claiborne noted that, when he and Richardson went to prison, the flashiest tech anyone had was a flip phone. He said his younger relatives have been a great help in catching him up on technology.
"I still don't mess with a whole lot of functions on my phone," Richardson said. "I still keep it basic."
Richardson added that he's still afraid to change virtually any of the settings on his car, concerned he'll mess with something vital and not be able to fix it.
Public support, then and now: 'A blessing'
The Claiborne home was packed with both family and friends when 8News visited. They represented just a part of the Waverly Two's support system.
The two men said that, between the efforts of their legal team and 8News' own coverage over the years, their story has gotten a significant amount of attention.
PREVIOUS: ‘Waverly Two’ celebrates freedom with Richmond community at ‘Freedom Brunch’
"These people never knew nothin' about us, but they heard the story, and they was willin' to [say] -- 'We hope that y'all get home,' 'Fightin' for y'all,' 'Prayin' for y'all,'" Richardson said. "That meant a lot."
Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," during a February 2026 interview with 8News at the Claiborne family home in Henrico. (Photo: Paul Nevadomski/8News)
The two men still have piles of Christmas cards, which they said were sent from all over the world -- and they only represent a fraction of the mail they received in prison.
"Guards used to be like ... 'Anybody else gonna get some mail in here? Y'all takin' up all the mail!'" Richardson said. "Mail just comin' in -- all day, every day."
Richardson and Claiborne emphasized just how grateful they have been for all of the support they have received, saying it meant everything to them. However, they said that garnering more support could only help their case.
"I can't complain about the amount of support, but I think more support is needed," Claiborne said.
The two men asked that viewers consider how they would feel if someone close to them was experiencing something like this.
"We need y'all's support, we need y'all to continue to support us," Claiborne said. "We need this, because … we could be somebody in your family. We could be your friends, your brothers. You think because it's not you, you don't have to get involved -- [but] this could be you."
Waverly Two's next steps: Court battle for innocence
The Waverly Two's legal team has spent the last several years working to get Richardson a writ of actual innocence -- or a document that would overturn his conviction.
Ferrone Claiborne [left] and Terence Richardson [center] -- otherwise known as the "Waverly Two" -- and their attorney Jarrett Adams [right] outside of the Supreme Court of Virginia in Feb. 2026. (Photo: Deanna Allbrittin/8News)
Only Richardson, not Claiborne, is eligible for such a writ. This is due to the nature of their original state convictions. While Richardson was convicted of a felony, Claiborne was convicted of misdemeanor accessory after the fact, and misdemeanors cannot be contested under Virginia law.
Working towards getting Richardson such a writ has been a lengthy process -- and one that has not been without significant hurdles.
Dispute between Virginia's top attorneys
Richardson's court battle has spanned the terms of three Virginia attorneys general. Former attorney general Mark Herring and his conviction integrity unit believed Richardson was entitled to a writ of actual innocence, saying "no rational factfinder" would have found him guilty.
However, Herring lost his reelection bid to former attorney general Jason Miyares soon after issuing that opinion. Within about a month of taking office, Miyares swiftly reversed course on Richardson's case, saying that he did not believe someone who once pleaded guilty should be eligible for a writ of actual innocence.
"There's 10,000 pages to this case," Richardson said, referring to its extensive court record. "There's no way you did it [read them] in 29 days."
Claiborne said that he felt it was a matter of conflicting politics, as Herring is a Democrat and Miyares is a Republican.
"You're playing politics at the expense of peoples' lives," he said.
Repeat trips to Virginia's highest court
The Waverly Two continued their fight, made harder without the sitting attorney general's support. After a substantial battle that went all the way up to the Supreme Court of Virginia, Richardson was granted an evidentiary hearing. That hearing took place in May 2024 and, as a result, the presiding judge ruled that the 9-year-old’s witness statement was admissible.
A three-justice panel of the Court of Appeals of Virginia then denied Richardson’s innocence petition on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. In their written opinion, the justices contested the value of the presented evidence and said they believed Richardson’s state-level guilty plea essentially functioned as a confession.
Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," outside of the Supreme Court of Virginia in Feb. 2026. (Photo: Deanna Allbrittin/8News)
On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Waverly Two stepped into the Supreme Court of Virginia to ask its justices to reverse the appellate court's decision. This hearing represented the first time Richardson and Claiborne were able to join this court battle in person, rather than from behind bars.
“We get to walk out of this courtroom not only with hope, but we get to walk out with the freed men behind us,” Adams told 8News after the hearing.
The Supreme Court of Virginia will issue an opinion on the Waverly Two’s appeal, which their legal team expects should happen no later than mid-April.
Should the court rule in Richardson's favor, he will have one last chance to argue for his innocence through the state courts. The Waverly Two's legal team told 8News this will begin with new court briefings.
Will Jay Jones' election change anything?
The Waverly Two told 8News that they hope the newly-elected Attorney General Jay Jones (D) will take notice of their story and take a stance similar to Herring's.
"Come back and look at what Mark Herring did, y'know? They didn't do that for nothing," Richardson said. "They had an integrity unit. You come in to start it back up, that's good -- but don't overlook us, with what was already done [by] an integrity unit, with our innocence. All that we ask you to do is, do the same thing Mark Herring did. You're gonna come up with the same conclusion that Mark Herring did."
8News has been in contact with Jones' office to ask if it intends to take any action on Richardson's case. As of the time of reporting, his office has declined to comment.
It's worth noting that, when campaigning against Herring in the 2021 Democratic primary for attorney general, Jones criticized how Herring was handling the case. He urged Herring to act more decisively, saying that Claiborne and Richardson were "potentially rotting away in jail based on bad evidence or faulty evidence."
"There is certainly exculpatory evidence that was not available that was not in front of us and to me that screams for re-examinations,” Jones said at the time.
Now that Jones has become Attorney General, if he were to do nothing to aid the Waverly Two, they feel it would be a "miscarriage of justice."
"That's what made me so mad back then [during their trials], anyway, 'cause I'm like, man -- you had so many people that knew that we didn't do it, but nobody steppin' up to the circle," Richardson said. "'Cause everybody is worried about their jobs, but nobody is worried about me and his life."
No matter what, the Waverly Two 'walk with the faith'
Despite everything, the Waverly Two said they are doing what they can to remain hopeful.
Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," during a Feb. 2026 interview with 8News at the Claiborne family home in Henrico. (Photo: Paul Nevadomski/8News)
"Do you feel optimistic you're going to get the outcome you want eventually?" Allbrittin asked.
"Eventually -- eventually," Claiborne said. "And I don't know how long that journey is. Only God knows. But, like I said, I'mma remain optimistic and walk with the faith. I'mma always believe that the truth is gonna present itself."
8News has been shining a light on the Waverly Two since 2017, after then-investigative reporter Kerri O’Brien began her research into their case in 2016. We continue to uncover and report new information. For all of our coverage, click here.
