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Norfolk man who robbed woman, stole car sentenced

Posted at 9:14 AM, Aug 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-19 09:14:13-04

Jamal Mitchell. (VBPD)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A man accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint and fleeing in a stolen car was sentenced in court Monday.

23-year-old Jamal Tyree Mitchell, formerly of the 800 block of Maryland Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia, was sentenced to 21 years in prison with eight suspended Monday by Circuit Court Judge A. Bonwill Shockley for charges of robbery, conspiracy and use of a firearm. Mitchell was also sentenced by Shockley to two years for possession of an unauthorized weapon capable of death or injury, bringing his total prison sentence to 15 years to serve.

The Commonwealth’s evidence proved that at around 11 p.m. on June 9, 2016, a woman was driving home to Virginia Beach from Norfolk on I-264. She was cut off by a Hyundai, and she honked in response. When she arrived at her home in the Red Mill area, she noticed the Hyundai had followed her home.

Two men got out, and one pointed a gun at her and demanded her purse, bags, and car keys. Her cell phone was also taken during the robbery. One of the men told her they would come back later for her car.

Two blue bags fell from her car during the robbery. Fingerprint analysis was done on the bags, and Mitchell’s fingerprints were found to be on them.

The next morning, officers were still following leads as to the location of the victim’s phone. They tracked it to an area off Rosemont Road in Virginia Beach.

Officers spotted Mitchell behind a building and stopped him. The victim’s cell phone was found on him, ringing when officers called the number.

All three defendants were seen in video footage at the Wawa on Rosemont Road arriving in the Hyundai, which had previously been stolen in Norfolk. Mitchell’s fingerprints were also found on the victim’s cell phone case and all over the stolen Hyundai.

While in jail awaiting trial on November 17, 2017, Mitchell was found in possession of a six and a half-inch sharpened metal weapon. It was found under his mattress.

One of Mitchell’s co-defendants is scheduled for a jury trial on October 30. Co-defendant Zimonion Adams, who was a juvenile at the time of the offense but certified to Circuit Court for trial as an adult, pleaded guilty to robbery and conspiracy. He was committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice as a serious offender.

Mitchell has prior convictions for unlawful wounding and burglary. He has several adjudications as a juvenile for larceny offenses.