Derek Winslow, 50, indicted in 2014 shooting death of East Providence barber
PROVIDENCE – A grand jury has indicted a third man in connection with the 2014 shooting death of an East Providence barber.
A Providence County Grand Jury returned a secret indictment Aug. 25 charging Derek Winslow, 50, with one count each of murder and discharging of a firearm while committing a crime of violence that ended in death, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office announced Friday.
Winslow, of Providence, pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the slaying of Yusef A'Vant after the indictment was unsealed during proceedings Monday before Superior Court Judge Kristin E. Rodgers. He is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions.
Co-conspirators already indicted
Winslow’s indictment comes six years after his alleged co-conspirators Thomas Mosely and Evan Watson were indicted in the murder of 42-year-old A’Vant on April 13, 2014, at his Krazy Kuts barbershop on Pawtucket Avenue in East Providence.
Mosely, 40, is serving consecutive life sentences, plus 15 years, at the ACI after being tried twice in the slaying of A’Vant, a beloved family man and mentor to youth in East Providence.
Watson, 33, pleaded guilty to the murder of A’Vant in October 2016 and awaits sentencing. Watson is serving 50 years, with 20 of those years non-parolable, after pleading guilty to shooting and wounding two people in a home invasion in Providence in July 2014, court records show.
A targeted hit
In sentencing Mosely in June 2021, Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause said he was convinced that Mosely had entered the barbershop intending to do the utmost violence all because A’Vant had “mouthed off” and “been fresh” to him based on conversations at the time of the crime.
A’Vant had a customer in his shop around 2 p.m. on April 13, 2014, when someone walked in from the rain and shot him to death in what police said was a targeted hit. The customer ran for help.
Mosely was tried twice in A’Vant’s death. A jury in November 2019 found him guilty of obstruction of justice for asking witnesses to lie and possession of a firearm without a license, but failed to reach a verdict on the murder, conspiracy and firearms charges.
Krause declared a mistrial and Mosely was tried again in February 2020. Jurors then convicted him of second-degree murder and discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence that ended in death. The jury acquitted Mosely of conspiracy and the most serious charge, first-degree murder.
A’Vant, who left behind a teenage son, was related to retired Rhode Island State Police Detective Lt. John A’Vant and Providence Detective Angelo A’Vant, head of the department’s cold-case unit.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Scott Erickson and Special Assistant Attorney General Robert E. Johnson IV.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence man indicted in 2014 slaying of East Providence barber
