Release Date: Monday, July 20, 2009 5 p.m.
Harvey L. Bryant, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, announced today that Keith Rudolph Smith, Jr., 18 years old, previously residing at the 700 block of South Rosemont Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was sentenced for one (1) count of Robbery, one (1) count of Conspiracy, and (1) count of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony. Circuit Court Judge Stephen C. Mahan sentenced Smith to a total of twenty-eight years. The Court suspended thirteen years and nine months of the sentence, leaving him fourteen years and three months to serve in the Virginia State Penitentiary. The suspended portion of his sentence is conditioned upon twenty years good behavior upon his release from custody, indefinite supervised probation, and having no contact with victim or her family.
The Commonwealth’s evidence proved that on July 22, 2008, the defendant and co-defendant agreed to rob the victim, who had pulled into the Chimney Hill Shopping Center parking lot to adjust her 3-year old son’s car seat. The defendant and his partner-in-crime approached both sides of her vehicle with firearms and angrily demanded money. The victim froze when she saw the guns further irritating the defendant and his accomplice. One of them jumped through the driver’s side window, across the victim’s body, and grabbed her purse off the floorboard of the minivan. As the defendant began to pull her purse through the window, the victim instinctively grabbed it and a struggle ensued. The struggle was cut short when the defendants began pistol whipping the victim and she let go of the purse. The defendants then ran into the Pecan Garden’s neighborhood. The crime was witnessed by the victim’s 3-year old son, who was traumatized by the event. The purse was later recovered by a homeowner from their trashcan in the Pecan Garden’s neighborhood and submitted to police. Forensics processed the purse and its contents, which yielded a latent print that was found to match the defendant’s prints.
The co-defendant was tried and convicted as a juvenile.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Candis R. Beasley. Please call Amanda Herman if additional information is desired.
Similar Press Releases: conspiracy, felony, Harvey Bryant, Robbery
