Victim’s daughter Brandy Markova reads a victim impact statement in court prior to Terry Jewell’s sentencing for murder. Markova’s father, Rodney Queen, was shot on Feb. 27, 2022. He died March 1, 2022.
Lori McNelly| PDT
PORTSMOUTH- Brandy Markova was in the middle of a career milestone when she got the call that her biological father, Rodney Queen, had been seriously injured.
Markova, of Portsmouth, Va., is a well-known boutique cake designer specializing in wedding cakes. She had been auditioning for one of the Food Network’s popular competition shows.
“I was at my bakery in an audition for the food network to go on Halloween Wars and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing,” Markova said from the witness box. It was her family calling her, she hadn’t yet heard about what had happened at her father’s farm at 410 Straight Fork, West Portsmouth.
Queen had been airlifted to St. Mary’s Medical Center, a trauma center, due to the seriousness of his injuries. That’s where Markova and family members immediately headed.
“He was unrecognizable. He had blood coming out of his ears. It was obvious, very obvious” Queen’s medical situation was very serious. Queen was on life support. Asked about whether the family discussed how long to leave him on supportive care, she said: “There was no discussion about leaving him on.”
The family had taken a break and received a call that Queen had taken a turn for the worst.
“We received a phone call that if we were going to say goodbye” that it was time, she said. “We were told he was pronounced brain dead and it would be best to remove him from life support.”
Queen and Markova’s mother had her when they were teens. Markova was adopted by her maternal grandparents. Queen and Markova more firmly re-established ties about 15 years ago. They attended Shawnee State University together and became close.
“That’s when our relationship really started to develop,” she told the court. “He introduced me to my husband.”
After Markova and her husband, an attorney and a Coast Guard officer, moved to the east coast, the relationship between father and daughter continued to develop.
“We would talk on Facetime, mostly, sometimes two and three hours at a time,” she said.
Asked if she thought Queen would ever harm himself as the defense suggested, she said: “Harm himself? No. Absolutely not.”
Rodney Queen died March 1, 2022, of his injuries. The cause of death was a gunshot to the right side of the head. His friend was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
But the man who loved nature, knowledge, and his family is gone. There is relief, but also sorrow. Describing her father, Markova called him: “A student of the world. A true Renaissance man. He loved knowledge.
“He loved poetry and literature and spoke fluent American Sign Language. He was a student of the world. He not only loved life but respected it. Even with two holes in his skull, he fought to live.”
Markova said murder is a form of robbery in how it affects the victim’s loved ones. It steals a life, yes, but it also steals the could-have-beens from the family. The future happy memories and smiles are suddenly gone with an act of violence.
“My dad would’ve made an amazing grandpa,” she said.
