Trevon Delshawn Rodregus Tripp, a 26-year-old Black man from Dunkirk, New York, was a father to two young children. On the evening of March 18, 2024, his life was cut short by gunfire inside a residence on Prendergast Avenue in Jamestown. Police responded to reports of gunshots just after 5:30 p.m. and discovered a violent scene inside an apartment at 839 Prendergast. They found three men who had been shot. Tripp was pronounced deceased at the scene, while two other men had sustained serious injuries.
The investigation by the Jamestown Police Department and the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office soon revealed the incident was what the DA described as a "robbery gone bad." Investigators determined that the shooting occurred during an attempted robbery orchestrated by Evan Nix, a 39-year-old from Amherst. The plan was to rob cannabis sellers who had traveled from Rochester to Jamestown after Nix had lured them there through online interactions.
Nix had recruited several accomplices for the robbery, including Tripp, William Hernandez, and Juan Rivera-Torres. During the attempted robbery, all three accomplices were shot.
In the days and weeks that followed, police made several arrests. On March 19, the day after the shooting, officers took 35-year-old Juan C. Rivera-Torres of Jamestown into custody, initially charging him with criminal possession of a weapon. On April 25, police arrested a second Jamestown resident, 53-year-old William Hernandez. Ultimately, Nix, Hernandez, and Rivera-Torres were all indicted on charges of first-degree robbery in connection with the incident. Rivera-Torres also faced a charge for possessing a loaded gun.
The cases against the surviving individuals proceeded through the courts. In December 2025, Juan Rivera-Torres was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, to be followed by five years of parole supervision. Evan Nix, the man who planned the robbery, was convicted of first-degree attempted robbery. In March 2026, he was sentenced to serve eight years in prison, also followed by five years of parole supervision.
While those involved in the attempted robbery have been prosecuted, no one has been charged with Trevon Tripp's murder. As of June 2025, his homicide remained under investigation and is considered unsolved. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jamestown Police Department at (716) 483-7536 or their anonymous tip line at (716) 483-TIPS (8477).
