Victim’s father witnesses aftermath of second crime

Michael Anthony Brewton stepped off the bus last night within a block from where his son was fatally stabbed two days before, only to stumble onto the aftermath of another violent crime.

A few minutes before Brewton got off the bus in downtown Richmond, a 19-year-old man was punched and robbed shortly before 7 p.m. outside the old Central National Bank building at 219 E. Broad St. on the south side of Broad, police said.

"What is going on now?" Brewton asked with surprise, having approached the scene of the robbery as police officers gathered.

The robbery occurred diagonally across the street from the spot where Brewton's son, Javis J. Turner, 20, was fatally stabbed during what police described as a confrontation Thursday outside Foot Locker in the 300 block of East Broad Street.

Turner ran around the corner and collapsed in the 200 block of East Marshall Street. He was pronounced dead at VCU Medical Center. Police charged Desean Q. Trent, 27, with murder in the stabbing.

Last night, Richmond police officer Nicholas Castrinos was traveling east in a police car east on Broad when he saw a man punching the victim in his head outside the bank building and searching his pockets, said police Sgt. Michael Alston.

Police chased the suspect and apprehended him at North First and Broad streets. David Evans, 18, of the 1800 block of North 22nd Street was arrested in connection with the robbery, police said. He was smiling as officers escorted him to a police van.

The victim was not seriously injured, Alston said. The sergeant declined to say what was stolen from the victim, but said, "Items have been recovered."

Brewton, who works as a chef in Richmond, was on his way to a bar on North Third Street to meet relatives when he happened upon the robbery scene.

He said he still was trying to understand how his son ended up a homicide victim. He also said no one tried to save his son or tried to break up the fight.

"Nobody helped him," Brewton said. "They didn't pick a trash can up and hit that guy on the head."

He also questioned why the victim had to be his son. "Why couldn't it be the other one out here doing dirt to other people?" he said.

Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or .