Man acquitted in 2006 slaying of Petersburg businessman

An admitted crack cocaine dealer who authorities accused of being the lookout in the 2006 robbery and slaying of a well-known Petersburg businessman was acquitted by a Petersburg Circuit Court jury yesterday of all charges.

After hearing six hours of testimony and deliberating just 30 minutes, the jury found Antoine D. Myler, 29, of Hopewell not guilty of murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and two felony firearm counts in the holdup and slaying of Robert L. Braswell Jr., 43, who was gunned down outside his store, Lowry Tire, on Nov. 8, 2006.

Myler is the first of four defendants to be tried in the case.

Special prosecutor Nelson Fisher said Braswell, a father of three who lived in Colonial Heights, was essentially killed for money to buy crack cocaine.

The jury apparently had credibility issues with the prosecution's key witness -- co-defendant Shelly Grey, 48 -- who identified Myler and two other defendants as the principal suspects.

Defense attorney Katina Whitfield said Grey had made inconsistent statements to police about who was involved in the robbery and killing.

"I just don't think the jury believed her," Whitfield said. "Her credibility was very low. In one of her inconsistent statements to police in the past, she had actually [named] somebody else who wasn't at the scene of the crime."

But Fisher said prosecution evidence that showed Myler was present during the planning stages of the robbery and had even provided the guns used by the co-defendants to shoot Braswell. Evidence also showed that Myler was present when Braswell was shot after arriving to open his business, Fisher said.

"He was . . . in the position of seeing what was going on and acting as a lookout," the prosecutor said.

Myler testified that he was a crack cocaine dealer, Fisher said, and that he had previously smoked crack with, and sold crack to, the two defendants who Fisher said separately shot Braswell -- Timothy M. Williams, 38, and Dantryl Ingram, 19.

In testifying for the prosecution, Grey told how Williams reached into one of Braswell's pockets and pulled out what authorities believe was money to be used to buy crack cocaine, Fisher said.

Myler's alibi was that he was smoking crack with a friend at a motel three blocks away when Braswell was killed.

But the friend, who testified for the prosecution, said Myler had left the motel about 3 or 4 a.m. that day and returned about 7 a.m., "which would be a direct match to when the murder took place," Fisher said. Authorities believe Braswell was killed between 6 and 7 a.m.

During cross-examination, however, Myler's friend testified that he couldn't be sure when Myler was gone because "he had been up five days using crack cocaine and had passed out," Whitfield said.

Despite Myler's acquittal, Fisher said he feels strongly about the case and the guilt of the two alleged shooters. "There certainly has been no evidence that I'm aware of to indicate they didn't do it," he said.

The three remaining defendants are scheduled to stand trial this month. Grey's trial is set for June 17, but Fisher said that will likely be continued until after Williams and Ingram are tried June 23, also by a jury.

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or .