HANOVER COUNTY, Va. — U.S. Naval Officer Emmanuel Coble was sentenced to life in prison for killing his pregnant girlfriend, Raquiah King.
A jury previously found Coble guilty on all five felony charges he faced following the 2022 murder.
"This murder indicates someone who has a depraved mind," Hanover County Judge John Harris said about Coble during the sentencing hearing. "I think he's an extremely dangerous person, and I think he needs to spend the rest of his life in prison."
Hanover County Commonwealth Attorney Mackenzie Babichenko said she was pleased with the sentence.
"I think the judge took this case very seriously. He heard all of the evidence, all of the impact and he wanted to make it very clear that this was inexcusable unacceptable and that the defendant would be staying in prison forever," she said. "I believe that every year was earned by the defendant given the brutality and the heinous nature of his acts as well as the extensive amount of efforts he put into covering it up or at least trying to cover it up."
During his April 2025 trial, Coble admitted to shooting King during a fight, then transporting her body from Hampton to Hanover County, where he dumped it in the woods.
Despite his admission, Coble claimed her death was an accident.
Watch: Naval officer guilty of murdering pregnant girlfriend, dumping body along Virginia road
Prosecutors presented evidence showing that King had told her mother she feared Coble, who wanted her to have an abortion.
Voice recordings and text messages revealed that on the day of the killing, King chose to seek medical care to continue her pregnancy rather than terminate it, as Coble had planned.
Following the conviction, King’s family shared their gratitude to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, the jury, and the community for helping them get justice.
"She was a ray of sunlight; she was fun, beautiful, courageous, and strong," King's brother Gregory said. "I’m just grateful for everything."
Coble was convicted of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of murder, murder of a pregnant woman, first-degree killing of a fetus, and concealing or transporting a body.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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