An 18-year-old Syracuse man pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder for organizing a drive-by shooting that killed 26-year-old Jakari Townsend, a man prosecutors say had nothing to do with the robbery that set the retaliation in motion. Drevan Felder hesitated before entering his plea in court, admitting he worked with two other men to plan the shooting that unfolded hours after an armed robbery on Syracuse’s west side.
According to a court account reported by Syracuse.com, the robbery that triggered the violence took place earlier the same day, when a grey sedan pulled up to the 500 block of Gifford Street. Three people got out of the car while the driver stayed behind, and the group approached Wade Adair, a relative of co-defendant David Herndon, along with two others. Justin Davis allegedly displayed what appeared to be a gun and forcibly stole property from the three victims, though the indictment did not specify what was taken. Jaumar Chandler, Davis, Talonn Leonard and Jaydakis Scott are accused in that armed robbery.
Prosecutors say the drive-by shooting that followed was planned in direct retaliation for that robbery, carried out hours later and miles from where it belonged. The indictment alleged Townsend and the other man injured in the shooting, Malcom Johnson, were not part of the earlier robbery at all — they simply ended up outside J & B Grocery at 409 Bellevue Avenue around 8 p.m. on September 16, 2025, according to WSYR. Townsend was killed and Johnson was injured in the gunfire.
How the Shooting Unfolded
Court documents described how the retaliation plot came together. David Herndon, 34, drove a car that led Rephayah Oselmo and Felder to Syracuse’s southwest side, according to a police criminal complaint cited by the station's report. From there, prosecutors say Felder and Oselmo, 19, rode a Veo motorized bicycle and opened fire on Townsend and Johnson. All three men — Felder, Herndon and Oselmo — were charged with coordinating the drive-by shooting, and an earlier indictment accused all three of second-degree murder in Townsend’s death, as reported by CNY Central.
In court Wednesday, Felder admitted his role only after asking whether his admission could be used against his two co-defendants and being reassured it would not, per the same account. Judge Ted Limpert offered Felder a plea deal requiring him to admit he helped plan the shooting with two other men, promising a sentence of 25 years to life at minimum and 30 years to life at maximum. That is a reduction from the 35 years to life prosecutors had previously offered, and well short of the 50 years to life Felder could have faced had he been convicted at trial. No sentencing date has been set. Cases against Herndon and Oselmo remain pending.
Arrest Made in Arkansas
Oselmo’s arrest came weeks after the shooting and far from Syracuse. CNY Central reported that U.S. Marshals took Oselmo into custody in Fayetteville, Arkansas, though the outlet's own reporting gives conflicting dates for the arrest, citing both October 21 and October 22, 2025, in separate accounts.
Part of a Broader Decline in Syracuse Violence
Townsend’s killing came during a year that, citywide, saw violent crime fall sharply. Syracuse recorded 14 homicides in 2025, the fewest in more than a decade and a 56% drop from the pandemic-era peak, according to Syracuse.com’s review of city data. Shootings with injuries also dropped, with 57 recorded in 2025 — about a third of what the city saw in both 2020 and 2021.
Police data showed crime declining across nearly every category in 2025 compared with the year before, often by double-digit percentages, the outlet reported. Syracuse police closed 86% of last year’s homicide cases, with only two from 2025 still open and a third determined to be self-defense. Townsend’s case, stemming from a shooting that killed a man uninvolved in the dispute that caused it, stands as one of the cleared cases from that broader tally.
