Virginia woman finds phone underneath her porch – it belonged to the man who murdered her best friend 5 years ago

The friend of a woman who was murdered in 2020 claimed to have found a phone belonging to the suspected murderer underneath her porch. Christina Cunningham Richmond was allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend over five years ago but a video on TikTok has renewed interest in the case with potentially new evidence being on the device.

The viral clip, which was posted by TikToker “@sweetsophiaaaaa,” has already received almost 8 million views on TikTok with half-a-million likes. The video shows an old iPhone being switched on with the text in the video giving a little more context: “Finding the phone of the man who murdered my best friend/neighbor under my porch two years later.”

Naturally the clip has generated some intrigue with people wanting to know who Sophia’s friend was and what was on the phone. The caption gave some more information with the hashtag naming the victim as Christina Cunningham Richmond. Sophia also explained that “This is also the cell phone she used to call 911 begging for her life.”

What happened to Christina Cunningham Richmond

Richmond was stabbed to death in November 2020 according to articles from the time. Her boyfriend, Maury E. Williams was the main suspect and was later charged with her murder, however, records of a conviction aren’t available and according to Sophia’s TikTok, he pled insanity and was able to dodge the charges against him.

Sophia has made other videos about the death of her friend, with one viral clip showing the house Christina was murdered in and “almost made it out.” In another video from 2023 she shared photos of her friend and explained that she was a huge domestic violence advocate for many women.

It’s unclear if the phone was a new find or not as Sophia claims in the video that she found it two years after the murder but Christina was killed five years ago. Either way, viewers advised her to take the device to the authorities or “contact a detective.” Some claimed that the new evidence meant the case could be re-opened.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. In another video Sophia explains that, due to Maury’s insanity plea, the case could not be re-opened and that the detective told her she could do whatever she liked with the phone. Unfortunately the evidence against him cannot be used thanks to the plea. 

Sophia has held on to the phone since, with the hope that she could find someone that could potentially unlock it in the future although she claims the only way her friend would get justice is if Maury commits another crime which is far from the preferable solution.