Man fatally stabbed in downtown Richmond

Richmond police charged a man with murder last night in the fatal daylight stabbing of another man on a busy commercial strip in downtown Richmond.

They identified the suspect as Desean Q. Trent, 27, who, they said, has no permanent address. The victim was identified as Javis J. Turner, 20, of the 2400 block of Semmes Avenue.

Police say Turner was stabbed multiple times during a confrontation about 4 p.m. on the north side of the 300 block of East Broad Street beside a bus stop and several businesses, including a Foot Locker store.

"This was not something random," said Gene Lepley, Richmond police spokesman. "There was some bad blood. This was an escalation of a feud that had been going on" between the two men.

Fatally injured, Turner ran west on Broad Street and around the corner onto Marshall Street, where he collapsed, police said. Witnesses saw him lying motionless and bloody in the 200 block of East Marshall Street.

Rescuers loaded Turner into an ambulance and took him to VCU Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police also found Trent at the medical center, where they arrested him. The suspect had walked into the hospital and was treated for cuts on his hands, authorities said.

Michael Anthony Brewton, Turner's father, said it made sense that his son would have headed past the 200 block of Marshall because that is on the way to his cousin's home on North First Street.

Brewton, 50, said his son graduated this past spring from Armstrong High School.

"He's a motivated type person," Brewton said. "He had low social skills and he was trying to make a name for himself," Brewton said.

"He didn't have too many friends," he added.

Police taped off the block on Broad Street and interviewed possible witnesses inside the stores, which also included a hair salon, a clothing store and a market.

Investigators also sealed off the area where Turner had been lying. A shirt soaked in what looked like blood lay on a short brick wall near the yellow crime-scene tape.

John Chang, manager of the nearby 2nd Street Eatery, left the kitchen when he overheard people talking about someone getting stabbed. He said he went outside and saw a man lying on the sidewalk.

Chang said the downtown area is safer than it was four years ago, but he added that the stabbing didn't surprise him.

"This area's trying to change," Chang said, "but stuff like this just makes it worse."

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