The two people accused in the fatal ambush of a young man while he was shopping at a Cherry Avenue convenience store in Charlottesville last winter have received their trial dates.
Nasir Floyd McGhee, 20, had been set to go to trial Jan. 22, but a recent joint motion from the prosecution and defense has pushed his trial to late April. The other defendant, a juvenile who was described only as O.A. at the time of the shooting, has seen his case certified as an adult, and Orlando Wendell Allen Jr., now 18, appears headed for trial in March.
Both individuals have been held without bail since the March 4 shooting at the Sunshine Supermarket 827 Cherry Ave. that left 20-year-old Justice Kilel of Gordonsville dead. Both have been charged with second-degree murder.
According to arguments made last year by Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony, the entire incident was captured on video.
"Mr. McGhee and O.A. acted in concert every step of the way," Antony said at a bond hearing five days after the killing, at which McGhee’s bail was denied.
Antony said that the two suspects entered the store masked and hooded and then orchestrated an ambush attack between them using on facial cues. She said the violence began with a brass-knuckled punch to the victim.
Antony went on to describe a glance by Allen that allegedly led McGhee to jump off the victim, who then received four gunshots to his back while he was face down on the floor of the store. She identified Allen as the triggerman.
McGhee, dressed in the striped jumpsuit of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, was in Charlottesville Circuit Court last week to hear the progress of his case.
"We were hoping to have a plea prior to trial," his defense attorney Mike Hallahan told Judge Claude Worrell Tuesday.
In the absence of such a deal, Worrell set McGhee’s trial to last three days beginning April 24. As for Allen, he turned 18 in July and was transferred to the jail on his birthday, according to jailhouse records. His trial is also slated to last three days, beginning March 6.
Allen, who reportedly received a gunshot wound in the incident, is also charged with the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Neither suspect has a prior criminal record.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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