Teen survivors in botched robbery enter guilty pleas

“I did something stupid and my friend got killed.”

Kodie Lee Tyler’s words in a statement to investigators last October spoke volumes about the night he and three friends, all teenagers from the Williamsburg area, drove in a quest for marijuana to a Lanexa rental house occupied by a reputed drug dealer. Authorities say robbery was their intent.

Tyler and two of his companions, Derek Daurelle Moore and Reuben Timothy Tynes Jr., survived the encounter. The fourth, Christopher Greene, 18, did not. Wielding a modified shotgun, Greene kicked open the house’s back door. One of two rounds from a .357 handgun fired by the dealer inside struck Greene in the chest.

Monday afternoon, the three survivors stood trial on attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery charges in New Kent Circuit Court. Moore, 19, pleaded guilty to both counts. He faces up to 20 years in prison when sentencing is held June 8.

Tyler and Tynes, meanwhile, cut plea deals. Tyler, 18, pleaded guilty to an amended felony charge of conspiracy to commit grand larceny. The attempted robbery count was dropped. Judge Thomas B. Hoover sentenced Tyler to 10 years in prison with all but six months suspended for the next 20 years. The defendant has already spent more than five months in jail after electing not to seek bond.

Both felonies lodged against Tynes, 18, were reduced to misdemeanor counts of accessory after the fact. Hoover imposed 12 months in jail, all suspended for the next five years, on each charge.

“What we know about this case comes from Moore,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory told the court.

Events, he said, began the day before the Oct. 14 shooting when Moore approached a fellow student at Bruton High School in York County. Moore asked John William Chaffin where he could score some weed. Chaffin alerted Moore to the Lanexa dealer who, he said, had pillowcases stuffed full of the drug.

The next afternoon, another student, Robert Matthew Perez, drove Moore and Greene to the 15600 Pocahontas Trail (Route 60) address to check out the location. Around 9 p.m. that night, the four teens — Greene, Moore, Tyler, and Tynes — returned in Tyler’s mother’s car.

“It’s not clear if they were going to rob or attempt to burglarize the house or do a strong-arm robbery,” Gregory said. “Moore’s testimony gets kind of confusing about people’s involvement in the case.

“But once we get to New Kent, it’s clear what happened,” the prosecutor added.

After parking about 100 yards west of the house, Greene retrieved the shotgun from the trunk. Greene, Moore, and Tyler then approached while Tynes waited in the car. Walking around to the east side of the house, the trio rapped on a window and announced they were there to buy marijuana. A voice inside told them to come to the back door.

Greene pulled out the shotgun, concealed in his baggy trousers, and kicked open the back door. The dealer inside slammed the door shut, whereupon Greene kicked again. The second time the door opened, two shots rang out from inside. Greene fell to the ground and Tyler and Moore fled back to the car. Tynes then drove the trio back to Williamsburg.

“This whole thing started with [Moore] looking for marijuana and his friend ended up dead,” Gregory told the court.

Hoover questioned Gregory on why the threesome had not been charged with a more serious offense of burglary at night while using a firearm. Gregory pointed to all three cooperating with authorities and offering to testify.

Hoover, however, quizzed all three over their involvement, demanding answers as to why three teens with no prior criminal records became involved in such a scheme.

First, Hoover grilled Moore on how much marijuana the defendant expected to take from the dealer’s dwelling.

“I don’t have a number, just a lot,” Moore answered. “More than one or two ounces. That’s a lot.”

“Why would you have an interest in that much marijuana?” the judge asked.

“That’s the only thing I could think of,” Moore replied. “My mind was taken over. All I wanted to do was smoke.”

The defendant went on to say he spent about $100 a week on marijuana. Hoover then asked what he planned to do if the dealer he robbed came looking for him.

“I never had any thought like that,” Moore said. ‘I think I was high at the time.”

Moore said he’d been a heavy marijuana user for the past year, and apparently that use had not stopped while he’s been out of jail on bond. Under earlier questioning by the judge, Moore said he had not used marijuana in the past 30 days. Hoover ordered an immediate urine screening. Moore tested positive for marijuana, which remains detectable in the human body for 30-45 days after use.

Moore protested, arguing the test result could be from secondhand smoke. Hoover was not convinced. The judge revoked Moore’s bond, ordering the defendant held in jail until the June sentencing date.

Next, Tynes and Tyler faced Hoover’s wrath. In the hours before the shooting, both had been at a local shopping mall, but met up with Moore at a fast food restaurant. All three then traveled to Tyler’s home where they met Greene.

Tynes, who told investigators he didn’t want any part of the scheme and elected to remain in the car, drew questions from Hoover over why he didn’t walk away.

“I didn’t think about it,” he said, adding he didn’t realize robbery was the plan until the group was only five to 10 minutes away from the Lanexa house.

Tynes admitted he saw Greene retrieve an object from the trunk that appeared to be a firearm, but he refrained from asking Greene about the weapon.

Tynes also said he was not a marijuana user, and a subsequent urine screening yielded clean results.

Defense attorney Elliott Bondurant introduced a stack of letters, written by Tynes’ teachers, coaches, school administrators, and church family. All labeled the defendant’s character in glowing terms with high marks for integrity and honesty. The letters impressed the judge.

“In my 15 years of being a judge in juvenile and now circuit court, I have never seen letters of this quality about someone’s character,” Hoover said. “Good people make bad mistakes, especially when they’re young and immature.”

Reading an excerpt from one letter, Hoover said, “[Tyne’s] biggest problem is he’s a follower and that’s obviously gotten him in trouble.”

Turning to the defendant, the judge said, “This all says you’re a whole lot better person than that day when you were with those other people.”

Tynes, meanwhile, spent six days in jail soon after his arrest.

“What’s the experience like being in jail?” Hoover asked.

“It’s not a pleasant one, sir,” Tynes responded.

Tyler, meanwhile, thanked Hoover for giving him a second chance. But that didn’t stop the judge from inquiring about the defendant’s train of thought in deciding to participate in the scheme.

Tyler said he was hoping no one was at home, but admitted noticing lights were on inside as the trio approached.

“Didn’t that make you think?” the judge demanded.

“A little bit,” Tyler replied in a barely audible voice. “My family leaves lights on a lot when they’re away, but when I heard that voice inside, that’s when it popped into my mind this is not a good idea.”

Tyler said he then tried to talk Greene out of going forward.

“I didn’t want any marijuana,” he said, adding he was being more of a lookout and not expecting to be rewarded with part of the marijuana haul.

“I love this job. People lie to me every day,” Hoover shot back.

Tyler insisted he wasn’t lying, but then said he smoked an average of two blunts per week using marijuana Moore supplied him for free.

“If you get your marijuana for free, why would you have an interest in going to this house for marijuana?” Hoover asked.

“I was just helping out a friend to get the marijuana he wanted,” Tyler answered.

“From what I hear from you and your answers, I not so sure you won’t be back here with a probation violation,” the judge told the defendant. “I hope I’m wrong. If you do, it will be a serious day for you to return here on these charges.”

Afterward, Gregory said, “Moore was the mover and shaker. Greene was more of a catalyst because he brought the shotgun into play. Moore and Tyler said Greene was a volatile kind of guy.”

The shotgun, a 12 gauge Mossberg 500 with the stock cut off to form a pistol grip, turned up about two months after the shooting, Gregory said. Relatives of John Steven Carter surrendered the weapon. Authorities say Carter is the dealer who shot Greene.

“[The relatives] said the shotgun was found on the property, but there was a thorough search of the property by investigators,” Gregory said. “I believe it could have been sent to them directly by Carter.”

Carter disappeared after the shooting, but law enforcement agencies in Alabama found him hiding inside an abandoned trailer in Geneva, Ala., a small town just north of the Florida line, on March 18. In connection with the New Kent shooting, he is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and illegally disposing of a dead body. Greene’s body was found the next day in the back yard under a pile of firewood concealed by a tarp. No charges have been filed so far stemming from a “grow room” hidden inside the house where investigators seized 348 marijuana plants with a street value of over $1 million.

Carter, 56, first faces felony charges lodged by federal authorities in Florida. New Kent authorities have no plans for now to extradite Carter to New Kent.

“I hope to coordinate something with the feds that he stays in Florida,” Gregory said after Monday’s trials.

As for Chaffin and Perez, both cut plea deals in New Kent court on March 6. Attempted robbery counts lodged against each were dropped. Conspiracy charges were amended to petty larceny with Chaffin, 18, pleading guilty and Perez, 18, pleading no contest.

Chaffin received 12 months in jail with six months suspended while Perez got 12 months, all suspended. The suspended time hangs over their heads for the next five years.