RICHMOND, Va. -- Kyle Stoner's friends and loved ones filed into a Richmond courtroom Friday to explain to a judge how much Stoner meant in life and the profound impact his murder left on the community.
Stoner was killed while he sat outside City Dogs restaurant on West Main Street in Richmond's Fan neighborhood on the evening in July 2022. Witnesses said someone started shooting at the restaurant's patio and quickly left the area.
Police arrested Derrick Adjei, 24, within hours of Stoner's death.
Adjei faced 10 felony charges but was found not guilty by reason of insanity in May.
"I don't question the insanity. It's just that it leaves it very open-ended," Stoner's father Thomas Stoner said outside of court. "It didn't make any sense. At all. They didn't know each other and it was nuts."
Even though Adjei was legally found not guilty of the crime, Judge Claire Cardwell allowed Stoner's parents to give victim impact statements in court.
"I heard the stories over and over and over again, from homeless people that came walking in saying, 'I knew him. He cared. I lived in my car, he stopped by my car every day to make sure I was okay.' That's who Kyle was," mother Barbara Froede said. "This town is deeply impacted by the loss of Kyle. And if we felt that everywhere."
The decision to either commit Adjea to a psychiatric hospital or release him from custody will be made at a hearing scheduled for August 2, 2024.
Friends called Stoner a talented artist and cook who had no enemies.
In a previous interview, Cory Stoner, Kyle's younger sister, said her brother was a great dad to his five-year-old son.
"He was a tremendous father and one of the most gentle people you’d ever meet," she said.
Stoner, who is originally from Virginia Beach, had lived in Richmond for more than 10 years.
He worked as a cook at the Conch Republic at Rocketts Landing and recently started in the kitchen at Buz and Ned's, his sister said.
"He was a talented musician, artist, cook, a hard worker, and a one-of-a-kind personality," she said. "Kyle was quiet if you didn’t know him, and hilarious once you did."
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