Teenager faces murder charge in cab robbery
Victim was friend who planned holdup, complaint says

By DAVID DOEGE
of the Journal Sentinel staff

A teenager suspected of taking part in a taxicab robbery in which his partner was killed was charged Wednesday with felony murder.

Lastevaro Montes Twilley was not the robber in charge and his partner was killed by the cabbie, according to a criminal complaint.

But Twilley was charged with the murder count because someone died during the commission of a felony, even though it was one of the men suspected of committing the felony.

Moreover, Twilley told police that the dead man, Antonio Jordan, 20, engineered the holdup to pay off a drug debt and "buy some presents for his kids," the complaint said.

Twilley, 17, of the 1400 block of N. 30th St., faces a prison term of up to 80 years if convicted as charged. He was being held in the County Jail Wednesday night and is expected to make his initial court appearance on the charge this morning.

Jordan was found dead in a snowbank along a sidewalk in the 900 block of N. 20th St. about 9:30 p.m. Friday, the complaint said. The cab driver, 22, surfaced about the same time at Sinai Samaritan Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound to the chest.

The complaint gave the following account:

Sometime shortly after he began work Friday at 9 p.m., the Yellow Cab driver was dispatched to pick up a fare on Locust street. Two men climbed into the cab at the assigned address and told him to drive to N. 20th and W. State streets.

When the cab stopped there, one of the robbers, later identified by the cabbie as Jordan, put a gun to the driver's head and ordered, "Give me all your money, pops."

The cabbie dug into his pockets and pulled out $70. At the same time, the other robber patted him down for additional cash. After the robbers exited the cab, the driver reached into a console compartment for a pistol he packs for protection and climbed out himself.

Jordan pointed a revolver at the cabbie and fired two or three shots in his direction, striking him once. The cabbie returned fire, striking Jordan in the chest.

The cabbie insisted that Jordan was the robber who shot at him and he shot back at Jordan.

Both robbers ran from the scene, with Twilley heading for the nearby home of a woman both he and Jordan knew. Twilley arrived alone, told her that Jordan had been shot by a taxicab driver during a robbery and asked her to help find him.

By the time they approached the 900 block of W. State St., the two discovered that police had already found the body of Jordan in the snowbank.

Twilley and the woman then walked to a nearby filling station and telephoned a woman who was having a relationship with Jordan and told her what had occurred.

The other woman later told police that Jordan had earlier told her that he needed money for Christmas presents for his children and that he planned to commit an armed robbery, something he had done in the past with the aid of Twilley.

The woman also told police that Twilley had a gun with him when he arrived at her home and that he told her he pulled the trigger a few times when the shootout started with the cab driver, but the gun did not discharge.

KeepAndBearArms.com Note: It is unfortunate that the reporter on this case didn't tell us how the cabbie is doing. We send him our prayers and ask you to do the same.

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