A jury returned a guilty verdict for a suspect who was just 16 when prosecutors say he fatally shot a 73-year-old man at an ATM in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Winston Nathaniel Lark IV was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and using a firearm in commission of a felony. The jury also had a choice of a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The loved ones of the victim say they are finally seeing justice done. The verdict comes more than four years after the killing.
Nelson Alexander headed to work early on the morning of Oct. 20, 2021. He never came home.
It was the most routine of morning errands captured on security video: Alexander stopped by an ATM in the 2900 block of Annandale Road in the Falls Church section of the county. There, police say Lark, then 16, confronted Alexander and shot him in the chest.
A passerby found Alexander bleeding from his wound in the parking lot. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died three days later.
After an intense, monthslong investigation Fairfax County police arrested Lark and his older half-brother.
On Wednesday, Lark took the witness stand and admitted he killed Alexander, but his attorney said Lark testified there was a scuffle and the gun “just went bang.”
Defense attorney Brandon Sloane told jurors: “This case is about intent … whether Winston had it … whether this 16-year-old boy intended to commit a robbery.”
But prosecutors argued video evidence and Lark’s own rap lyrics tell a different story.
They told jurors that Lark — with his brother behind the wheel of a stolen car — pulled up to the ATM at 5:20 a.m. that morning. Lark jumped out and confronted Alexander, who was startled and dropped his wallet. Moments later, gunfire erupted, and Alexander was shot in the chest.
The teens drove off without getting any money.
The videos released by police helped lead to the arrests.
Once he was in custody, investigators discovered a rap song written by Lark. Prosecutors pointed to words they said seem to describe the crime: “He got hit with the hollow, it ripped up his guts … He made the wrong move & he died out the hunch.”
The prosecutor told jurors: “A mistake isn’t taking a gun to an atm to confront a stranger. That is not a mistake — that is a robbery turned deadly.”
A sentencing date has not been set yet. Lark faces 20 years to life on the first-degree murder conviction.
His half-brother, Timothy Bradshaw Robinson, pleaded guilty earlier to robbery. He was sentenced to
serve just 3½ years.
Alexander’s nieces said they’re hoping for a much stiffer term for the gunman: “The maximum. The absolute maximum that he could possibly get,” his niece Carletta Alexander said.
Alexander was a loving, family-oriented man and an involved member of his church who sang in the choir, his loved ones said. In the wake of his death, they gathered for a vigil to honor his memory.
“He was a great person, he was a kind person, and he was a loving person,” his niece Patricia Alexander said at the time. “He loved his family, each and every one, and even those who were not his family, he loved each and every one of you.”
News4 reporter Aimee Cho contributed to this report.
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