A 40-year-old man responsible for the fatal stabbing of a tourist on a Norfolk beach in 2022 was convicted of second-degree murder on Wednesday.
Tiran Lyndell Wilson, 40, was found guilty of killing 46-year-old Marcos Adan Mata-Monjaras on Sept. 2, 2022.
The jury deliberated for approximately four hours.
Wilson will be sentenced by Judge Mary Jane Hall on June 21 at 11 a.m.
According to court records, Mata-Monjaras and his wife were on the beach, behind the Best Western hotel at 1330 E. Ocean View Ave., where they had just arrived from the Richmond area for a stay.
The couple was alone on the beach night fishing when Wilson approached them with a large knife. Fearful for their lives, Mata-Monjaras told his wife to walk ahead of him back toward the hotel.
For unknown reasons, Wilson stabbed Mata-Monjaras in his chest. Mata-Monjaras called out to his wife, and she turned around to see him on the ground. Mata-Monjaras died at the scene from the single stab wound which severed his pulmonary artery.
Norfolk Police arrested Wilson at his nearby apartment and seized the clothes that Wilson had been wearing at the time of the murder. Police did not find the murder weapon.
“All Mr. Mata-Monjaras and his family came to Norfolk to do was to enjoy time with one another. Mr. Mata-Monjaras did not deserve to die so senselessly at Mr. Wilson’s hands,” said Ramin Fatehi, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney. “We may never know why Mr. Wilson killed the victim, but we have held Mr. Wilson accountable for taking an innocent life. We will now seek a sentence that fits this crime.”
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Crystal Graham
