WOODBRIDGE, Va. — A man who shot and killed a 17-year-old boy during a marijuana transaction in Woodbridge in 2021 will spend nearly four decades behind bars for the crime.
A judge sentenced Adrian Kendall Bryant to 39 years in prison during a hearing on Friday.
Bryant pled guilty to first-degree murder earlier this year.
Editor's note: The attached video is from 2021.
The shooting happened in the 4700 block of Still Place around 11 a.m. on July 12, 2021 and the teen died from his injuries a short time after officers arrived on the scene, according to police.
Detectives with the Homicide Unit learned that the victim and three other men met for the transaction. The suspects planned to rob the victim during the meeting when an altercation broke out and the victim was then fatally shot. A fourth suspect, identified as a 17-year-old boy, was also identified as being involved in the planning of the robbery.
Following the investigation, all four suspects were located and arrested. Bryant and 20-year-old Daezon Anthony Harris were arrested locally while the fourth suspect, identified as 22-year-old Misae Tyjuan Walker, was taken into custody in Maryland.
The victim, in this case, was not identified by police because he was under the age of 18. Edwin Santos, who said he is the victim's cousin spoke with WUSA9 following the shooting two years ago. He said the boy had just turned 17, and they both celebrated their birthday days before the deadly shooting.
Santos said he was shocked by the shooting.
"It's crazy to think that the next morning this happened," Santos said.
A local pastor told WUSA9 he was deeply loved.
"He was a great kid, full of life, always laughing," the pastor said. "No one deserves to have their life taken. It doesn't matter who you are."
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