Two people accused of fatally shooting a man while attempting to rob him of drugs are facing the death penalty.
A grand jury indicted Jaiquan Keonta Smith, 18, and Terrance Andretti Martin Jr., 20, on a charge of capital murder in the commission of a robbery last week for the November shooting death of 26-year-old Tyler Anthony Cole.
In Virginia, capital murder cases involving the willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of another person during a robbery are punishable by the death penalty or life in prison.
Smith and Martin — along with 22-year-old Wilbert McKenley Walker — are accused of shooting Cole while attempting to rob him of drugs in the 300 block of Carriage Road in the Ironbound Square Park neighborhood of James City County on Nov. 7.
Phone records show Walker, Smith and Martin arranged to meet Cole to buy drugs, according to a criminal complaint filed against Walker in Williamsburg-James City County General District Court.
Walker drove the other two to Ironbound Square Park, located off Ironbound Road, and waited while they approached Cole in his car to rob him, the court documents show.
The two men then shot Cole twice and stole unidentified items from him before leaving the scene in Walker’s car, the court papers said.
James City County Police responded to a call of shots fired at around 8:05 p.m. and found Cole in his car — which had crashed into a home on Carriage Road — suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Cole was transported to Sentara Williamsburg Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Martin was served with the capital murder charge Wednesday in Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, where he is currently being held on seven felony counts for an incident that occurred May 21, in which he and a 17-year-old boy are suspected of entering a home on Ernestine Avenue while wearing a mask and robbing at least two people of drugs. He was arrested on those charges Feb. 6.
Court records show he was also sentenced in 2012 for robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court. He received a suspended sentence of 15 years for those charges.
Smith was arrested in his home on Sidewinder Court in the Brookside Haven neighborhood in the Grove area of James City County on Tuesday.
Walker was arrested March 5 and charged with second-degree murder. He and Martin are being held at Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail without bond, while Smith is being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk without bond.
Smith and Martin are scheduled to appear in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court for a review hearing at 10 a.m. April 1.
Walker’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 23 in Williamsburg-James City County General District Court.
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to call the Crime Line at 888-LOCK-U-UP.
Related Coverage:
- Court Documents: Ironbound Square Park Fatal Shooting Involved Drugs
- Police Arrest One Suspect in Connection with Fatal Shooting of JCC Man
- Police Seek Public’s Help in Shooting Death Investigation
- JCC Police Identify Gunshot Victim Who Crashed Into House
- Breaking: Motorist Dead After Being Shot, Crashing Into House Off Ironbound Road
