Police have been trying to determine how Gustavo Junior Laurent obtained the gun he allegedly used to shoot a man on Market Street in downtown Charlottesville in late July.
The 41-year-old Laurent wasn’t supposed to possess a gun due to a past history that includes multiple felony convictions, including a child sex crime.
Charlottesville police charged Laurent with malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a felon after he allegedly shot 33-year-old Damon Emanuel Banks in the abdomen around 1:38 a.m. on July 28.
When police arrested Laurent a little over a week later, they seized his iPhone but couldn’t find a firearm. To determine how he got the gun, detective Courtney Lowe obtained a warrant to search the phone.
"It is reasonable to believe that this device would show how Laurent came into possession of the firearm used in the crime," wrote Lowe. "Laurent is a felon and unable to have legally purchased or possessed the firearm without assistance."
Lowe contends that Laurent’s device likely contains revealing data including text messages, phone calls, third-party messaging applications and location information.
"It is reasonable to believe Laurent has been in contact with individuals about the crime," wrote Lowe. "It is also reasonable to believe that this device would show the content of the messages between Laurent and friends, family members, or associates regarding the criminal activity."
Charlottesville court records show that Laurent’s first felony conviction came in 2007 when was found guilty of grand larceny. Four years later, in 2011, when he was 28 years old, he pleaded guilty to carnal knowledge, more commonly known as statutory rape, of a 13-year-old girl the prior year. More than five years of his seven-year sex-crime sentence were suspended on the condition of good behavior. However, he was subsequently convicted of cocaine distribution as well as multiple probation violations and multiple failures to register his sex offense.
For now, Laurent is back in Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail as he awaits his next hearing in Charlottesville General District Court on the charges from the shooting. That hearing is slated for Oct. 10.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com