NORFOLK, Va. — Zyrail Ladontay Mitchell, 22, was found guilty of armed robbery, armed burglary, abduction and several conspiracy and firearm-related charges for assisting his co-defendants, Dameron Shaikeem Wright and Deandre Lamont Ward, in two home invasions and acting as a getaway driver after the men held three victims and gunpoint and raped a woman multiple times.
Mitchell, along with Wright and Ward, robbed two 18 year olds at their apartment in Virginia Beach on Oct. 2, 2021.
The Commonwealth's Attorneys Office said Wright and Ward approached the two victims outside of their apartment, displayed firearms and walked the victims inside to begin rifling through their belongings. Mitchell stayed outside because he was known to one of the victims.
Wright and Ward placed items they stole from the apartment outside, and Mitchell moved the items to his car.
At one point during the encounter, the victim who knew Mitchell overhead his voice outside and recognized him. Mitchell's cellphone GPS records that were later recovered also traced him to the victims' apartment during the time of the incident.
During the Virginia Beach apartment robbery, Ward and Wright demanded money from the victims and demanded to be driven to one of the victim's mother's home in Norfolk.
As they held him at gunpoint from the backseat, Ward and Wright directed him to drive from Virginia Beach to Norfolk, and Mitchell followed them in his vehicle.
The Commonwealth's Attorneys Office said after arriving at the Norfolk residence, Wright and Ward rushed into the apartment behind the two victims after the mother answered the front door.
The defendants, still armed, then ordered everyone to get on the ground and demanded thousands of dollars from the mother. She handed them $800 in cash from a recent paycheck, according to the Commonwealth's Attorneys Office, but they demanded more money.
Wright and Ward then directed the three victims into a bedroom and tied their hands.
Ward remained in the bedroom with the victims as Wright searched the house for more money.
Ward then, while holding her at gunpoint and taunting her son, forced the mother to perform oral sex on him and then raped her in front of her son saying, "Look what I'm doing to your mom."
Investigations
Court documents detail brutal attack on woman in Norfolk
When Wright returned to the bedroom, he and Ward began ransacking the room and took more cash belonging to the woman.
Wright then ordered the mother into a different bedroom, where he proceeded to force her to give him oral sex and rape her, before allowing Ward to rape her a second time.
The defendants then forced the mother into a dog cage inside the home before leaving.
The Commonwealth's Attorneys Office said that throughout the time that Ward and Wright were in the residence, they were texting and calling Mitchell, who remained outside. Mitchell then served as their get-away driver.
The three defendants returned to the residence minutes later, and one went back inside to retrieve a cell phone that had been left in a bedroom. They then left the home again.
Norfolk police responded to the scene shortly thereafter and helped the mother undergo a sexual assault examination at Chesapeake Forensic Specialist. The police also seized the linens from the rooms where Ward and Wright raped her.
The linens were later found to contain DNA from both of the men.
Wright and Ward were arrested by Norfolk and Virginia Beach police in the days following the attacks.
On Sept. 13, 2023, Wright pleaded guilty to rape, forcible sodomy, abduction with intent to defile, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and three counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of those felonies.
Ward pleaded guilty to the same charges with the additional count each of rape and forcible sodomy. Both Wright and Ward are docketed for sentencing on July 1.
For aiding Wright and Ward's crimes, Mitchell was found guilty of armed robbery, armed burglary, three counts of abduction, five counts of conspiring to commit those felonies, and five counts of using a firearm in the commission of those felonies. Mitchell is docketed for sentencing on June 21.
"The survivors of this crime experienced unimaginable trauma at the hands of these three defendants," said Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi. "We wish the survivors peace as they heal, and we thank them for their bravery in testifying at trial. We will not tolerate violent sex crimes like this in Norfolk, and we will seek sentences against these defendants that fit their crimes."
Stay with News 3 for updates.
