Man Pleads Guilty to 2nd Degree Murder, Grand Theft Auto, Firearm Charges Following 2022 Ocean View Gas Station Shooting
NORFOLK, Va. — Kenneth Leon Yates, 45, pleaded guilty on Monday to the second-degree murder of Todd Lawton Wilson, using a firearm in the commission of Mr. Wilson’s murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and grand larceny of Mr. Wilson’s automobile following a 2022 gas station shooting.
After 11 p.m. on July 9, 2022, Mr. Wilson parked his gray Jeep Patriot at a gas pump at the Tinee Giant convenience store and Citgo gas station at 2701 E. Ocean View Ave. Moments later, a white SUV pulled into the gas station next to Mr. Wilson’s Jeep. Mr. Yates got out of the white SUV and got into the front passenger seat of Mr. Wilson’s Jeep. Mr. Yates then shot Mr. Wilson five times at close range in his torso, head, and leg. After mortally wounding Mr. Wilson, Mr. Yates pushed Mr. Wilson’s body out of the vehicle, got into the driver’s seat, and drove off. The entire incident was captured on video by security cameras, and witnesses were able to identify Mr. Yates to Norfolk Police investigators because he had visited the store earlier in the night and had given his phone number to an individual with whom he had been flirting.
At some point during the night, Mr. Yates was in a white SUV that he crashed into a fence at a church in Portsmouth. The following morning, on July 10, 2022, Portsmouth Police officers located Mr. Yates and detained him on suspicion that he had been driving under the influence. After Mr. Yates gave them permission to search his car, officers found a handgun (which forensic tests later confirmed to be the murder weapon) in the glovebox. On July 13, 2022, Norfolk Police located Mr. Wilson’s Jeep parked in the Poplar Halls area with several cartridge casings inside matching Mr. Yates’ handgun.
Mr. Yates’ cell phone GPS data corroborated Mr. Yates’ presence at the Ocean View gas station, in Portsmouth where he was located with the murder weapon, and in Poplar Halls where Mr. Wilson’s vehicle was recovered. Mr. Yates’ cell phone data also contained text messages in which Mr. Yates demanded that another individual bring him bullets hours before the shooting as well as multiple phone calls between him and Mr. Wilson in the minutes leading up to the shooting.
Mr. Yates was set to stand trial by jury on Tuesday for first-degree murder, but on Monday during his pre-trial hearing, Mr. Yates pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, using a firearm in the commission of murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and grand larceny of an automobile. Mr. Yates’ plea agreement calls for him to be sentenced by the judge with an active sentence no longer than 29 years. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Yates’ plea agreement and set the case for sentencing on Sept. 27.
“Thank you to the eyewitnesses and to the Norfolk Police for putting together a strong homicide case,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “The stronger the case, the more likely it is that the accused person will plead guilty, accept responsibility, and save the family of the victim and potential jurors the trauma of trial. Come sentencing, we will seek an appropriate term in prison to fit Mr. Yates’s violent and unnecessary crime.”
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney William S. Maydosz is prosecuting Mr. Yates’ case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detective Tawny K. Cevora led the investigation.
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