Maximum sentence handed to NK man in shooting case

A Charles City Circuit Court judge has imposed the maximum sentence on a New Kent County man convicted earlier of shooting into an occupied vehicle.

Judge Thomas B. Hoover cited “aggravated facts” of the case involving Kevin Lamont Armstead in sentencing the defendant on May 6 to five years in prison.

Armstead, 24, of 7160 Olivet Church Road, entered a conditional plea of guilty as part of a plea deal reached during his March 14 trial. Armstead had been indicted for maliciously shooting into an occupied vehicle, but the charge was reduced to unlawful shooting, enabling the defendant to appeal the judge’s finding.

Events unfolded on Sept. 24, 2006 when Armstead and a carload of friends drove on to property owned by James B. Black with the intent of going fishing. Black encountered the group, accused them of trespassing, and told them to leave. Black, who was in his pickup truck, followed as the group drove toward the boundary of Black’s land.

But as the car reached the property line, the vehicle stopped and one passenger emerged, exchanging words with Black. The argument ended, whereupon Black backed up his truck and began to drive away, but Armstead got out and fired several shots from a .22 caliber revolver at the pickup. One bullet shattered the pickup’s rear window, but Black, who was not armed, was not injured.

During trial, Armstead said another passenger in the car had handed him the revolver. He claimed he fired three shots at the ground and did not aim at the pickup.

At the May 6 sentencing, Hoover told the defendant, “The concern I have is you were trespassing on Mr. Black’s family farm and he politely told you to leave. There was no reason for you to get out of the car and have a confrontation with Mr. Black.”

Prosecutor Rob Tyler told the court he couldn’t imagine a more grievous set of facts in recommending a five-year sentence. Defense attorney Mary K. Martin noted that her client has already spent the past 20 months behind bars and urged to court to impose six months, labeling her recommendation “appropriate.”

Armstead, meanwhile, apologized to Black and the court, asking the judge for leniency. But Hoover afforded none.

“Mr. Armstead, it’s inconceivable to me that you had any reason to act the way you did,” the judge said in refusing to suspend any time in the five-year term.

Armstead has 30 days in which to file an appeal with the state appellate court. Last July, a jury recommended a two-year prison sentence plus a $5,000 fine after he was found guilty of assault and brandishing a firearm in connection with the same incident.