A Fairfax County jury found an Alexandria man guilty yesterday (Thursday) of fatally shooting a man during an attempted vehicle break-in in Woodlawn last year.
Tavon Tykee Ferguson was convicted of second-degree murder and use of a firearm while committing a felony after an eight-day jury trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
During the trial, prosecutors linked Ferguson and fellow Alexandria resident Tavon Lang to the death of 21-year-old Jaylin Hartless in a Woodlawn parking lot during the early morning hours of Sept. 19.
The two men were trying car doors in the area when they came upon Hartless, who liked to sit in his car, listening to music, prosecutors said.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Christopher Keegan said during opening arguments on Aug. 10. “He did nothing wrong.”
Hartless was shot four times. Fairfax County police officers found his body between his car and another vehicle at around 4:51 a.m., about an hour and 20 minutes after the shooting is believed to have occurred.
Lang was convicted of second-degree murder in July. Ferguson’s defense attorney had argued that, while the two men were filmed by security cameras several blocks away, they separated and were not seen again in the 30 minutes preceding Hartless’s death.
Charges against a woman initially arrested in connection with the shooting were subsequently dismissed.
Ferguson is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 4. Under Virginia law, the prison sentence for a person convicted of second-degree murder could be set anywhere from five to 40 years.
