ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — The Roanoke Police Department says 37-year-old Todd E. Manns was found guilty of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in commission of a felony in connection with a shooting in May of 2021.

Manns was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday October 5 for the murder of Taniko Belt.

On May 2, 2021 at approximately 11:30 p.m. Roanoke Police responded to shots fired near the intersection of Panorama Avenue Northwest and Westside Boulevard Northwest. Officers say as they responded to that location they got another call about a vehicle crash on Peters Creek Road Northwest.

Officers then responded to the crash where they found a vehicle in the median close to a power pole. The driver of the vehicle was Taniko Belt. She was found unresponsive with gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by Roanoke Fire-EMS. Police say Manns knew Belt and the incident was isolated.

Manns was originally charged with second degree murder when he was arrested on May 7, US Marshals assisted with the arrest.