Inset, left to right: Jordan Isaiah Pierce and the surveillance photo of the suspect in the 7-Eleven killings (Newport News Police Department). Background: The 7-Eleven where Pierce allegedly killed two clerks during a 2022 robbery (Google Maps).
A 24-year-old Virginia man is accused of fatally shooting two convenience store clerks during a robbery in which he and a co-conspirator stole lottery tickets.
Jordan Isaiah Pierce was charged in a superseding federal indictment with two counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in death, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, and using a firearm in a crime of violence in connection with the 2022 slayings of 52-year-old Preyas Patel and 35-year-old Logan Edward Thomas.
According to a news release from the Newport News Police Department, officers responded at 11:46 p.m. on June 15, 2022, to a 7-Eleven in the 1400 block of Kiln Creek Parkway after receiving a report of a "suspicious situation." Arriving at the scene, first responders found the two men inside suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
According to federal prosecutors, Pierce was armed with a Draco pistol during the June 2022 robbery and made off with an undisclosed number of lottery tickets.
Prosecutors also allege that on July 11, 2022, Pierce and his co-conspirator robbed another Newport News convenience store using the same firearm, this time taking cash.
An FBI affidavit details evidence gathered in the July robbery at the Market Express in the 13300 block of Warwick Boulevard. The affidavit says Pierce's co-conspirator carried the Draco pistol and pointed it at the store clerk before taking about $800 from the cash register. Pierce "stood nearby and aided the robbery," according to the affidavit. The two allegedly fled in a black Nissan Altima.
An investigator said he recognized Pierce in surveillance footage from both robberies. Authorities are still searching for the co-conspirator who allegedly went into the stores with Pierce.
Investigators also cited allegedly incriminating evidence retrieved from a cellphone that authorities say belonged to Pierce.
Investigators said Pierce frequently used a rose-gold iPhone 6 seized from a different co-conspirator. At about 10:04 a.m. on July 11, a co-conspirator sent a message to the phone reading, "It's just da dude wit da glasses," which the affidavit says matched the description of the store clerk. Cellular site records placed the phone in the vicinity of the store that morning.
Messages recovered from the phone on July 13 also referred to the robbery, investigators said. According to the affidavit, the phone's user warned the registered owner of a Nissan Altima that the vehicle had been "used during a robbery."
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew told Portsmouth, Virginia-based NBC affiliate WAVY that investigators had a person of interest after the two robberies, but needed more evidence before proceeding. Just over four years later, he said, he believes authorities have what they need to secure a conviction.
"I think the jury will be blown away by the amount of evidence and what we have," Drew told the station. "I think the attorneys are going to put together a good case. We're going to make a good argument."