A man who fatally shot a person in Ironbound Square Park when he was 18 years old has been sentenced to more years in prison than he has been alive.
Jaiquan Keonta Smith, now 21, was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 17 years suspended Wednesday morning in the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court, according to online court records.
The sentencing comes over a year after Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the November 2014 death of 26-year-old Tyler Anthony Cole.
Prosecutors said Smith and a 19-year-old attempted to rob Cole of drugs during a deal in the 300 block of Carriage Road on Nov. 7, 2014. The two men then shot Cole twice and stole unidentified items from him before leaving the scene in a third person’s car, court documents state.
Cole then crashed his car into a house on Carriage Road, police said.
The then-19-year-old, Terrance Andretti Martin, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in July 2016. He was sentenced in July 2017 to 99 years in prison with 49 suspended.
Court records show Martin had been charged with other violent crimes before the murder, including an assault involving pistol-whipping in July 2014 and a January 2015 armed robbery.
A third man, Wilbert McKenley Walker, was accused of driving Smith and Martin to the scene and waiting while they approached Cole to rob him. Walker entered an Alford plea for second-degree murder in August 2016 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison with eight years and seven months suspended.
In an Alford plea, the defendant maintains his innocence, but pleads guilty with the admission there is enough evidence to prove his guilt.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green said in 2015 he would not pursue the death penalty for Smith and Martin, who were 18 and 19 years old at the time of the murder.
The two men were initially charged with capital murder, which involves willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of another person. Capital murder is punishable by the death penalty or life in prison.
WYDaily archives were used in this article.
Correction: The original version of this article stated Smith’s sentence was suspended 23 years, resulting in a 17-year active term. Smith was sentenced to 40 years with 17 suspended, making the active term 23 years.
