A 17-year-old boy who was arrested for murder after a fatal shooting in June pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter on Thursday.
The June 9 shooting at the Emerald Point Apartments killed 18-year-old Da'Myrian Jacob Durel, of Virginia Beach. Weeks later, police announced the arrest of two 17-year-olds in connection with the incident.
In exchange for 17-year-old Yonovan Keonte Pooler's plea on the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter, prosecutors agreed to limit his sentence to eight years of active time in a correctional facility.
New court documents contain a previously unreported narrative of the incident based on Pooler's statements to detectives. According to Pooler's account of the incident, the deadly shooting was the result of a marijuana deal that turned deadly after what Pooler perceived as an apparent robbery attempt by the victim, Durel.
According to the documents, on the afternoon of June 9, 2022, a 17-year-old girl, identified only as "A.F." in court papers, asked Pooler to accompany her to Virginia Beach while she sold marijuana to Durel. Pooler agreed to join her, and the pair drove to the parking lot of an apartment building on King Charles Court in Virginia Beach, where they met Durel for the marijuana deal.
Durel got in the backseat of the car, and A.F. gave her phone to him so he could pay her for the marijuana via Cash App. But when Durel gave the phone back, he grabbed A.F.'s gun and pointed it at her, asking her where the guns were, Pooler later told detectives.
At that point, Pooler said he got out of the front passenger seat, grabbed his own gun, and shot Durel twice in the chest. After Durel got out of the car and fell to the ground, Pooler shot him a third time in the face. Pooler then got back into the girl's car, and she drove him back to his home in Norfolk.
Police and paramedics responded to the scene, where Durel was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
In early August, police announced the arrest of a 17-year-old boy after securing juvenile petitions for second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Pooler's identity was made public when his charges were transferred to Circuit Court for trial as an adult. A.F., the 17-year-old girl, was also arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Court records indicate Pooler remains in custody awaiting his sentencing hearing, which is currently scheduled for March 6, 2023.
The 17-year-old girl's criminal case remains in juvenile court, where she pleaded guilty to the accessory and drug charges. Her case is scheduled to be finalized with a dispositional hearing on Dec. 12 in the Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.
