Docs: New details in shooting deaths of Accomack Co. store clerks
Apr 02, 2025
ACCOMACK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — In a 13-minute span between the time two Accomac Store Stop employees unlocked the doors and the time Accomack County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the store at 23135 Lankford Hwy. in the pre-dawn hours of March 20, a man had pulled up, gone inside and shot
the two people — a father who died at the scene and a daughter who was "unconscious but breathing," court documents state.
She later died at a Norfolk hospital.
And the man who allegedly shot them both was found soon after the shooting, about two miles from the store.
Court documents revealed these and other details in the shooting deaths of two Accomack County convenience store employees, Pradipkumar Ratilal Patel, 56, and his daughter, Urmi Pradipbhai Patel, 24.
George Frazier Devon Wharton, 44, of Onancock, who was in Accomack County General District Court Wednesday, faces charges of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, as well as attempted first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. He was the man court documents state pulled up to the store, went inside and shot both Pradipkumar and Urmi Patel.
Wharton, who also faces a pair of charges of using a firearm in the commission of a felony-first offense, and a charge of nonviolent felony possession of a gun, had previously been convicted in 2008 of distributing cocaine the year before and sentenced to 18 months in jail with two years of supervised probation, according to court documents.
According to a criminal complaint, surveillance footage from the store showed the two store employees, Pradipkumar Ratilal Patel, 56, and his daughter, Urmi Pradipbhai Patel, 24, unlock the Accomac Shore Stop convenience store and go inside around 5:19 a.m. March 20.
A short while later, a silver Buick sedan registered to Wharton pulls up, and then he went inside the store, according to a criminal complaint, approaching the register and displayed a firearm in his left hand before shooting Pradipkumar Patel, who was behind the counter.
Wharton then pursued Urmi Patel to the deli area, a criminal complaint states, and then shot her also, and then he approached the front door of the store, lowered his hood to reveal his face, which law enforcement identified as Wharton through previous encounters.
Wharton is then found near Wharton Road in the Accomac area of Accomack County — about two miles away from the store — in the same Buick sedan and was taken into custody, according to a criminal complaint, with a holster found in Wharton's left pants pocket.
Around 5:32 a.m., Accomack County Sheriff's Office deputies were sent to the store in reference to a shooting, according to a criminal complaint, with dispatch being advised that one cashier was shot and not breathing.
When Cpl. Nick Lewis arrived, he found a man, later identified as Pradipkumar Patel, laying on the ground behind the cash register area with an apparent injury to his head, just above the eye, and "with no observable signs of life," a criminal complaint states. Emergency Medical Services was contacted to come to the store.
Lewis then found a woman, later identified as Urmi Patel, in the kitchen area, leaned up against the wall with a head wound — "appearing to be a gunshot wound," a criminal complaint states. He observed her unconscious, but breathing, and began CPR until EMS arrived. She was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she later died.
In a hearing before a magistrate, Wharton did not participate, and when the magistrate tried to speak to Wharton, he refused to speak or respond to questions, court documents state. The magistrate had explained to Wharton that "answering would at least help show some cooperation."
That did not happen, according to the court documents.
"Defendant refused to respond," they stated. ...read more read less