MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Berkeley County jury deliberated for just over three hours Thursday before finding two people were found guilty in a 2014 murder at a business park south of Martinsburg.
Tulsa Johnson, 36, and Vincent Smith Jr., 19, were found guilty of felony murder, first degree robbery and conspiracy in the shooting death of Michael Garcia.
Co-defendant Jucobe Johnson, 35, was found not guilty of one count of accessory after the fact to murder, and was to be released from Eastern Regional Jail.
Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely said in closing arguments Thursday morning Garcia was shot six times on Sept. 14, 2014, on Technology Drive at the Tabler Station Business Park in a drug deal that “went sideways”.
The jury did not attach mercy to the felony-murder verdicts, meaning Smith and Tulsa Johnson face life sentences in prison and will not be eligible for parole.
They are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3.