VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — For nearly three years Jacquan Wilson has remained inside the Virginia Beach jail waiting for his murder trial to begin.
Wilson is charged with murder, robbery and the use of a firearm in a felony in connection to the killing of a Grassfield High School student.
Police say Wilson was a teen when he killed 18-year-old Bryant Cueto in the parking lot of an Applebee’s restaurant on General Booth Boulevard.
After a jury was seated Tuesday, prosecutors opened by saying this was a drug deal that turned deadly within a second.
Cueto had a friend drive him to the Applebee’s to sell some Xanax. Prosecutors say he was selling to Wilson and Wilson’s friend, Andarion McInnis. The agreed price: $350.
Prosecutors told the jury that when Cueto got to the Applebee’s, Wilson got into the back seat.
McInnis stood by the driver’s side window.
The Commonwealth believes Wilson was there to rob Cueto of the pills. They say he pulled out a revolver, and when Cueto didn’t hand over the drugs, Wilson fired. Cueto was shot in the back. He died before getting to the hospital.
Wilson was arrested days later. Prosecutors say when he was interviewed by police, he admitted to everything, and said he thought he shot Cueto in the arm. He said after the shooting he reached over and grabbed the bag of Xanax out of Cueto’s hand.
McInnis is serving a 28-year sentence at Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, for charges including robbery. He was found not guilty of murder in August 2017.
The trial is expected to last three to four days.