Norfolk man sentenced to over 3 life terms for murder of girlfriend and father figure in VB

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk man who was found guilty of murdering two people in Virginia Beach was sentenced Tuesday to three life-terms plus 35 years in jail.

On March 20, 2024, Cola Beale IV, 32, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, abduction, arson of a dwelling with malice, and arson of personal property, killing an animal and gun charges after admitting to killing his girlfriend, Czavi’er Hill, and father figure, Clifton Baxter, in March 2022.

Seven family members and friends of the two victims testified at the sentencing, and some of the most powerful testimony came from Hill’s father, Calvin Hill.

He searched for the perfect word to describe his daughter’s killer.

“I’d call you an animal, but animals kill to survive,” Calvin Hill said. “You are a monster because it is in your instinct and it is who you are.”

Beale was convicted of shooting Czavi’er Hill, 31, to death in her home after he had tied her up. Beale then set the house on fire with Hill still in it, after setting her dog on fire as well.

Calvin Hill called his daughter’s death a sword that cuts to the center of his soul.

“You are evil at your core,” he said.

Annetta Baxter described the loss of her father Clifton, who was 72, and
how her father fought in Vietnam and raised Beale.

Clifton Baxter was in the final stages of cancer, and neither his daughter nor his sister who spoke afterward ever imagined his life would end in murder.

Judge James Lewis called it an awful case.

“I’ve never seen someone with lower regard for human life,” Lewis said to Beale.

The mother of Czavi’er Hill wasted no time establishing her rage at the man who killed her daughter. She glared across to the defense table, and challenged Cola Beale.

“I want you to look into my face with the same courage you pointed that gun at Czavi’er,” she said.

B’onka Hill described how her daughter had accomplished so much at a young age, including the ability to buy a house at the age of just 25.

“She bought the house that you destroyed,” she said, referencing how Beale was also convicted of setting fire to that house after he had tied Hill up and shot and killed her.

“You are an evil, hateful, narcissistic coward,” she said. “You are nothing but a little boy. Real men don’t kill.”

Beale also shot and killed the man who raised him, Clifton Baxter, 72, while he slept on his couch.

Baxter’s sister told the judge about the impact of losing her brother.

“I kept looking at [Beale], and I was going to tell him, ‘open your eyes because I want you to see me,'” Sherry Banks-Edwards said. “I helped raised him. I used to babysit him, make sure he was treated like one of the family. And this is what you do to my family?”

Beale told the judge that he was not in the right state of mind when he committed the two murders.

“I have remorse” Beale said. “What I did haunts me every day.”

“Good,” someone in the gallery was overheard saying.

Beale was sentenced as follows: life sentences for each of the two murders plus a third life sentence for arson to Hill’s house; 10 years for setting Hill’s car on fire; 10 years for abduction; and five years each for torturing her dog to death and a pair of firearm violations.

Lewis added additional time because of parole violations that brought previous suspended sentences from past cases back onto the table.

Beale was also found guilty on May 22 of first-degree murder in the March 2022 shooting death of his cousin, Downing McLean, just three days after the Virginia Beach killings.

According to police, Beale’s March 2022 spree started when he shot and killed his girlfriend, Czavi’er Hill. After this, Beale set Hill’s home on fire with her and her dog inside. Later the same day, he shot and killed his father figure, Clifton Baxter.

Beale later told police he reached a “breaking point” after an argument with Hill.

After March’s guilty verdict, Beale expressed remorse for his actions, saying, “I definitely apologize for everything that happened, but I know with what happened, an apology is not enough.”

The sentencing for killing McLean will take place in August.

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