NORFOLK, Va. — Tyron Antonio Whitaker, 22, was sentenced in Norfolk Circuit Court to an active 13 years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to murdering 51-year-old Brian Peden Austin in 2021.
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Austin had been lured into meeting with who he thought was a woman from a dating app when Whitaker fatally shot him.
The night of May 21, 2019, Whitaker shot Austin after attempting to break into Austin’s car.
Austin had driven to and parked in the 200 block of West Balview Avenue to meet with whom he believed to be a woman from a dating app. The bullet struck Austin in his left shoulder and chest, and Austin died in the driver’s seat of his car as Whitaker fled. It is unclear whether Austin ever exited his vehicle or put up a fight against Whitaker.
Norfolk police investigators say Austin had recently been in contact with a woman named “Summer,” but the number that Austin had been texting belonged to a male friend of Whitaker’s. Cell phone location records from Whitaker’s friend posing as “Summer” did not place him at the scene of the crime. The last messages between Austin and “Summer” involved “Summer” directing Austin to park in a nearby and poorly lit parking lot and Austin responding that he preferred to park under a streetlight so he wouldn't get ambushed.
Soon after the shooting, Whitaker and his family moved out of the Hampton Roads area. On Dec. 19, 2019, Whitaker’s mother’s boyfriend came forward to Norfolk police with information regarding a Balview Avenue homicide that had taken place toward the end of May 2019. He told police that, the day after the murder, Whitaker stated to him that he had attempted to break into a vehicle on Balview Avenue, that the owner of the vehicle confronted him, and that he shot the man. Whitaker was arrested on Sept. 10, 2020.
During what was initially docketed on Friday to be Whitaker’s pre-jury trial hearing, Whitaker pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and Judge David W. Lannetti accepted his plea.
Judge Lannetti sentenced Whitaker to 13 years and four months in prison, with an additional 10 years suspended on the conditions that Whitaker complete 10 years of uniform good behavior and an indeterminate period of supervised probation.
“Tyron Whitaker lured the victim, intended to rob him, and killed him,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We have held Mr. Whitaker accountable, honored the victim and the wishes of his family, and protected the community. People who predate our citizens must serve time.”
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney William S. Maydosz is prosecuting Whitaker’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
