News - Tragic Incident: Sailor Fatally Shot While Attempting to Mediate Dispute Between Spouses

A woman has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for the murder of a U.S. Navy sailor who intervened in a domestic altercation between the woman and her spouse. Nildaliz Arline Flores-Roman, aged 27, received a 28-year prison sentence on Friday after a Virginia jury found her guilty of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm during the commission of a murder. This conviction follows the tragic shooting of Pfc. Katrina Ann Anderson last year. As reported by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, the incident occurred after a night of celebration on March 15, 2024. Anderson and Flores-Roman’s wife, both Navy personnel stationed on the USS Mahan, were marking Anderson’s 28th birthday. Flores-Roman was out with a separate group, but their paths converged at the same venue as the night unfolded. Later, Flores-Roman, her wife, and Anderson returned to the couple’s residence on East Little Creek Road. An argument erupted between the spouses in the parking lot, leading Flores-Roman to attempt to drag her wife into their apartment. Anderson intervened to break up the conflict, and they all proceeded inside. However, tensions did not subside for Flores-Roman. She retrieved a gun from her bedroom, prompting her wife to urgently warn Anderson to flee. As Anderson made her way to the door, Flores-Roman opened fire, striking her in the chest. “Ms. Anderson collapsed on the sidewalk just outside the apartment, and as she lay dying, Ms. Flores-Roman hit her once on the head with the gun before tossing it and walking away,” prosecutors detailed. The suspect’s wife called 911 and paramedics pronounced Anderson dead at the scene. Cops arrested Flores-Roman. Her wife described an “emotionally abusive” marriage in an interview with detectives and said Anderson tried to counsel her as a friend and co-worker. Jurors took just 20 minutes to convict Flores-Roman after a two-day trial in June. “Ms. Anderson, the victim of Ms. Flores-Roman’s crime, was a Good Samaritan trying to help a fellow sailor. She did not deserve to die,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said in a statement. “Most people who commit murder offer some kind of remorse. Had Ms. Flores-Roman showed any sign of being sorry for killing her, we would have recommended less time than we did. I mourn Ms. Anderson and extend my condolences to her family.”