Former Virginia security guard guilty of second-degree murder in Pokémon Go case

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WTKR) -- A 23-year-old Chesapeake man will remain behind bars after a 12-person jury finds him guilty of second-degree murder.

After a nearly two-week trial, a jury came to a verdict Friday afternoon and found Johnathan Cromwell guilty of second-degree murder and using a firearm to commit murder.

Chesapeake Police said a shooting on January 26, 2017, left 60-year-old Jiansheng Chen dead after Cromwell, working as an armed security guard in the Riverwalk neighborhood, fired at Chen, who was driving a dark blue minivan at the time.

Prosecutors have provided evidence to support Chen was playing Pokémon Go on private property near the clubhouse the night he was killed. Defense counsel maintains Cromwell has barred Chen from the area 10 days prior to this incident and they said Cromwell acted in self-defense because Chen was driving his car at Cromwell, who then fired.

Chen was shot at least five times. Ten rounds total were fired. Cromwell was licensed by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to be an armed guard and his company was hired to patrol Riverwalk and other areas.

Prosecutors said evidence shows Cromwell fired through the driver's window initially and they told the jury Cromwell could have moved out of the way, but instead wanted to confront Chen and put himself in harm's way to do that.

Cromwell's sentencing will be Monday at 9 a.m.