A 29-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury on Wednesday found him guilty of killing an Uber driver during a robbery in Charlotte in 2017.
Diontray Adams was tried in Superior Court on charges of first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
After deliberating for less than an hour, the jury found him guilty on all charges, and Judge Louis Trosch Jr. imposed the sentence.
According to prosecutors, on the evening of May 20, 2017, the Uber driver, Marlo Johnis Medina-Chevez, left his home driving a blue Nissan Pathfinder. He later picked up Adams and a codefendant, James Aaron Stevens, who had planned to rob an Uber driver.
Adams pulled out a BB gun and pointed it at Medina-Chevez, according to a statement released by the Mecklenburg district attorney’s office. A fight for the gun ensued, and Adams pulled Medina-Chevez into the back seat and slit his throat with a utility knife. Adam and Stevens then drove Medina-Chevez’s vehicle to South Carolina and left his body in a field.
Medina-Chevez’s family reported him missing, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police learned that his debit card had been used in Maryland.
On May 22, 2017, Maryland authorities notified CMPD that Medina-Chevez’s blue Pathfinder had been seen near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. When Maryland law enforcement stopped the vehicle, Adams and Stevens were both inside.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation analyzed phone records and determined that the suspects had been in Rock Hill around the time of the murder. With help from York County authorities, a police dog located Medina-Chevez’s body in a field in Rock Hill on May 25, 2017.
Adams’ trial began on July 26. Court sessions were halted August 9-10, 2021 because of a Covid-19 outbreak among courthouse employees. With precautions in place, court officials allowed Adams’ trial to resume on Wednesday for closing arguments and jury deliberations.
Stevens, the second defendant in the case, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later, the D.A.’s office said.
