A Richmond woman says giving her husband’s killer a life sentence ‘brings closure’

RICHMOND, Va. – Shakisha Harris-Hall waited a long 10 months to hear the punishment for her husband’s killer.

At the John Marshall Courthouse in Richmond, Mark Palmer was sentenced to life in prison plus 63 years.

Hall said when she heard the number of years, she was transported back to the cold December day when her husband was murdered.

“When they took me to the back of that room and the doctors came out and told me they tried to save him but he died on the way to the hospital – I was devastated.”

Two weeks before Christmas in 2023, Harris-Hall’s world turned upside down.

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She was caring for her mother when she received news that her husband, Kamarr Hall, was shot and killed at a South Richmond Dollar General store he ran.

Now-convicted murderer Palmer was captured by Richmond police while allegedly pulling in a Family Dollar on the Midlothian Turnpike, just a day after he fatally shot Hall.

“He said he didn’t know or didn’t want to shoot him,” Harris-Hall said. “Yes, you did because you shot him, then looked over the counter and left the store.”

Palmer learned of his fate late last week – he was convicted and sentenced for multiple robberies, weapons offenses and the first-degree murder of Kamarr Hall.

“It won’t bring my husband back, but just knowing he’ll never see the light of day again — that brings closure to my family.”

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Harris-Hall says she’s grateful she got to look her husband’s killer in the face.

She now hopes his sentence sends a clear message to others involved in violent crime.

“Grieving families, hostility, revenge – it’s not worth it because you’ll all be sitting around like me, hurting and wishing for all sorts of things that just won’t happen.”

Harris-Hall says something that struck her during Palmer’s trial was when she heard him bullying a 16-year-old dollar store employee at another Richmond-area location.

She hopes his conviction and sentence can help her heal too.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have information to share.