A Richmond jury couldn’t reach a decision Friday in the trial of Samuel Lydell Morton, leading to a mistrial for the man accused of the first-degree murder of 24-year-old Tevon Dickerson.
The jury of four men and eight women told the court Friday night that they were unable to agree unanimously on a verdict after deliberating more than two hours. Retired Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer asked them to reconsider; but they remained deadlocked.
The prosecution’s case hinged mostly on the testimony of Demonte Ketter, who was Dickerson’s close friend and admitted to robbing Morton at gunpoint earlier Oct. 19, 2016, before Dickerson was killed. Ketter, who was referred to mainly by his nickname Tay, testified that he saw Morton flee after shooting Dickerson six times.
Three wounds to the chest were fatal — “shots that were meant for Tay,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Patrick Dorgan.
Dickerson was waiting in the passenger’s seat of Ketter’s girlfriend’s car — the same car Ketter used to drive to Morton’s home and rob him at gunpoint after Morton refused to sell him prescription painkillers that Morton had already sold to someone else — when he was shot behind Ketter’s home in the 5100 block of Forest Hill Avenue. Ketter had gone inside moments before the gunshots rang out.
