Man sentenced to 26 years in prison for murder at a Norfolk gas station in 2022

NORFOLK, Va. — Kenneth Leon Yates, 45, was sentenced Friday to 26 years in prison after a 2022 murder at a gas station.

Yates pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder in the death of Todd Lawton Wilson, using a firearm in Wilson's killing, being a felon in possession of a firearm and grand larceny of Wilson's car after the shooting.

According to a news release from the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, on July 9, 2022, after 11 p.m., Wilson parked his gray Jeep Patriot at a gas pump at the Tinee Giant supermarket and Citgo gas station at 2701 E. Ocean View Ave. Moments later, a white SUV pulled into the gas station alongside Wilson's Jeep.

Yates got out of the white SUV and sat in the passenger seat of Wilson's Jeep. Yates then shot Wilson five times at close range in the torso, head and leg. After fatally wounding Wilson, Yates pushed him out of the vehicle, got into the driver's seat and drove off. Wilson died at the scene.

The entire incident was captured on video by surveillance cameras, and witnesses were able to identify Yates to Norfolk police investigators because he had visited the store earlier that night and given his phone number to a person he had been flirting with.

At some point during the night, Yates drove a white SUV into the fence of a church in Portsmouth. The next morning, officers from Portsmouth Police located Yates and arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence. After Yates gave them permission to search his car, officers found a handgun in the glove compartment. Forensic tests later confirmed that this weapon was the murder weapon. On July 13, 2022, Norfolk Police located Wilson's Jeep parked in the Poplar Halls area, which contained several shell casings that matched Yates' handgun.

Yates' cell phone GPS data confirmed Yates' presence at the Ocean View gas station, in Portsmouth, where he was found with the murder weapon, and at Poplar Halls, where Wilson's vehicle was recovered. Yates' cell phone records also included text messages in which Yates asked another person to bring him bullets hours before the shooting, as well as several phone conversations between him and Wilson in the minutes before the shooting.

Yates pleaded guilty June 10 to second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of murder, misdemeanor being a felon in possession of a firearm and grand theft auto and agreed to serve a maximum active sentence of 29 years; The Commonwealth agreed to dismiss Yates' first-degree murder charge. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Yates' plea agreement.

On Friday, LeCruise sentenced Yates to 26 years in prison and probation for an additional 24 years on the condition that Yates complete 10 years of good behavior and supervised probation upon his release and have no contact with the victim's family during that time.

“Surveillance videos, cooperation with witnesses, the outstanding police work of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Police Departments, and Mr. Yates’ own negligence all contributed to a case so serious that Mr. Yates chose to plead guilty rather than plead guilty to go to court,” said Commonwealth Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Yates will now be responsible for the murder of Mr. Wilson and will spend much of the rest of his life in prison. Unfortunately, no verdict will return Mr. Wilson to his family. I mourn their loss and wish them peace as they move forward in life. “