Petersburg man pleads guilty to fatally shooting teen for pair of Air Jordan sneakers

His killer, Tyvontae Thorpe, now 20, turned a simple swap of shoes in a gas station parking lot into a murderous encounter that defies explanation. He now faces decades behind bars.

Nearly two years after Thorpe shot Felder seven times while the two were inside Felder’s car to trade shoes, Thorpe pleaded guilty Monday in Chesterfield County Circuit Court to second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree, and felony use of a firearm in Felder’s March 12, 2021, slaying. In exchange for his pleas, prosecutors withdrew five accompanying charges.

Chesterfield Circuit Judge David E. Johnson convicted Thorpe and set sentencing for April 20. He faces up to 43 years in prison. His plea agreement places no cap on punishment.

Felder, a 2020 graduate of L.C. Bird High School in Chesterfield, had a “budding shoe business” and used social media to promote his enterprise and make sales of high-end sneakers. “His parents supported this business venture,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Sarah Wright told the court.

Thorpe, then 18, wanted to trade a pair of shoes his girlfriend gave him that did not fit for a pair that was the right size, but was more expensive. But he brought counterfeit cash to his meeting with Felder to pay for them.

The series of events unfolded about 10:50 p.m. in the parking lot of the Exxon station at 9900 Chester Road, just off state Route 288. Thorpe’s friend, Cameron Harper, also 18, had purchased sneakers from Felder before, and he arranged for the three of them to meet to make a shoe deal, according to the prosecution’s summary of facts.

Thorpe and Harper got a ride to the gas station. Upon arrival, the two teens exited the car that brought them and got into Felder’s car. Harper got into the front passenger seat and Thorpe in the rear passenger seat — directly behind Harper, Thorpe would later tell investigators.

Surveillance video from the Exxon confirmed this account. Further, it shows the two teens inside Felder’s car for about one minute before Harper “hops out of his seat, closes the door and stands next to” Felder’s vehicle, according to the prosecution’s case summary.

Moments later, “blowback” from the windshield can be seen on the video as shots are being fired inside the car. Thorpe can then be seen jumping out of the rear seat and running away.

After his arrest, Thorpe told police that he and Harper ran from the scene, and surveillance video from another nearby business shows Harper falling as he was running behind Thorpe.

Thorpe would later admit that he flagged down the car that had brought him to the gas station — it drove away when the shots were fired — and Thorpe eventually returned to his home in Petersburg.

Thorpe “also admitted... that he did in fact shoot the victim while seated in the rear of [Felder’s] car,” Wright said. Thorpe said he used a firearm that “someone had given him,” and he believed he had left it in the car that picked him up.

The car was later found abandoned near the Exxon on the evening of the killing. No firearm was found inside.

During his interview with detectives, Thorpe explained that when he shot Felder, there was no argument going on inside the vehicle. He said Felder “was not mad about being given counterfeit money and that neither he nor Harper nor Felder were upset,” the prosecutor said.

When pressed on why he shot Felder, Thorpe said that when he and Felder were looking at the sneakers to be exchanged, he looked up and noticed that Felder was pointing a gun at him. At that point, Thorpe said he “just blacked out and must have begun shooting.”

The evidence, however, contradicted Thorpe’s assertion, Wright told the court.

Police found a firearm in Felder’s car, but it was located in the center console and, at the time he was shot, both of his hands were in front of him. Felder was right-handed, and his right hand was found underneath his left hand, which was on the shoebox in front of him.

Officers responding to the shooting found Felder sitting in his vehicle with a shoebox in his lap containing a new pair of sneakers and some counterfeit bills.

Forensic investigators also established that the shots that killed Felder likely originated from the back passenger’s seat where Thorpe was sitting, and none of Felder’s seven gunshot wounds was indicative of being shot while he was facing Thorpe.

A state firearms examiner determined that .40-caliber cartridge casings recovered from the scene and bullet fragments recovered from Felder’s body had come from the same gun, although the weapon was never recovered.

Instagram records obtained by police confirmed that Harper and Felder had exchanged messages about meeting at the Exxon station for the shoe transaction. An analysis of Thorpe’s cellphones showed no contact between him and Felder, and Felder was not listed among his contacts. Thorpe told police that he did not know Felder.

Harper, who lives in Prince George County, was the first to be arrested in the killing.

After police arrived and began talking with witnesses, they noticed one young man — later identified as Harper — “who seemed more distraught than anyone else on scene,” the prosecutor said. After providing conflicting statements to investigators, he was taken to police headquarters and interviewed at length.

Thorpe was then developed as a suspect and, during a search of his home, investigators located counterfeit money that matched the fake bills found in Felder’s car. They also found a gun, but it was not the murder weapon.

A plea agreement reached in Harper’s case was rejected last week by Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge Jayne Ann Pemberton. Unless a new deal can be reached, Harper will be tried by a jury beginning Feb. 27.