Harshad Patel was the father of small twin girls.
A teenager from Chesterfield County, Virginia has been sentenced to serve 40 years in prison for the murder of Indian American businessman Harshad Patel, and the botched holdup of his store, in January.
Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge David E. Johnson essentially brushed aside defense arguments that 19-year-old Trayvon Malik Wilhite deserved some leniency because of his troubled upbringing – he was abandoned by his mother at age 8 – and focused instead on the “senseless and brutal murder” of convenience store owner Harshad Patel, 55, who was fatally shot Jan. 11 as he prepared to close for the night, reported Virginia Post-Dispatch.
The judge said Wilhite “arrogantly and contemptuously” assumed he had a right to rob a respected Chesterfield County business owner and then take the victim’s life “as he saw fit”, delivering the sentence.
Wilhite told police he was high on a hallucinogenic drug and didn’t intend to kill Patel. But in stern words to the defendant, the judge said Wilhite “intentionally and recklessly” pointed a pistol at the father of two and fired a single round as Patel cowered behind the counter.
“He shouldn’t have to take cover in his own place of business,” the judge said, adding that Wilhite mistakenly believed Patel was reaching for a gun and blamed the victim for crouching behind the counter to protect himself.
The teen could have “backed off and ran away” but made a “conscious and premeditated decision to defy the rule of law,” the judge declared after deliberating 30 minutes in chambers on Wilhite’s punishment. Patel was unarmed.
Chesterfield prosecutor Ken Chitty told the court that investigators found no weapon behind the counter or any guns at all in Patel’s store, the Marketplace #21 at 6811 Walmsley Blvd.
At the conclusion of the 90-minute hearing, Johnson sentenced Wilhite to a total of 73 years in prison with 33 suspended in the killing and attempted robbery of Patel, a native of India whom the judge described as a beloved family man and respected business owner. His death shocked and angered many of the victim’s regular customers who lived near his store.
Wilhite faced a maximum punishment of life plus 23 years. But recommended state sentencing guidelines called for an active prison term of between 25 years and 6 months on the low end and 42 years and 6 months on the high end.
After his arrest, Wilhite confessed he was the sole shooter but accompanied by two other teens, Thomas L. Jennings III, 18, and Wilhite’s younger brother, Tyquise, 14. Police believe a fourth person was also involved but he was never identified.
The trio was captured on Patel’s in-house surveillance video as the crime unfolded.