Hopewell man assaults wife’s ex-boyfriend, found guilty of unlawful wounding in New Kent Circuit Court

A tale of infidelity in a relationship that led a Hopewell man to follow his estranged wife to New Kent has resulted in an unlawful wounding guilty conviction.

Shawn A. Cameron, 37, of the 300 block of Allen Avenue, was found guilty of the reduced charge (originally malicious wounding) following a Monday morning contested trial in New Kent Circuit Court. One additional charge each of misdemeanor simple assault by a mob and misdemeanor trespassing were dismissed.

On Sept. 18, Cameron and his wife, Stacey Stephens, had gotten into an argument during the early morning hours in their Hopewell apartment. While Cameron was at church, he texted Stephens an apology. After Cameron returned to his apartment, his wife was leaving, saying she needed a “me” day.

Sensing that something was off, Cameron and his nephew went to a nearby Burger King and sat in the parking lot. There, Cameron saw his wife’s car pass by and began to follow it. As the vehicle made its way northbound on Interstate 295, the defendant pulled out of the parking lot and followed his wife’s car undetected. When he called his wife, Stephens said she was in Chester, which was not the case according to Cameron who made the call at the Varina-Enon Bridge.

Cameron trailed his wife’s car all the way into New Kent County to the Bottoms Bridge exit. When they both reached the double left turn lanes, Stephens saw her husband, gave him an inappropriate gesture, and sped off.

From there, Cameron trailed his wife until they got to the residence of Terry Rice Jr., who lived on Continental Road in Quinton.

“I was at my mailbox when the cars pulled up,” Rice said.

Rice said that he knew Stephens, as the two had been in a relationship previously. But Stephens testified that she had been seeing Rice, even though she was married to Cameron.

Differentiating stories from Cameron, Stephens, Rice, and the nephew of Cameron varied on the tone of an argument held between the defendant and his wife. After a short talk, Stephens drove up Rice’s driveway to his house, with Cameron following behind on the quarter-mile trail. Once arriving towards the home, Stephens and Cameron began what was described as an argument. From there, Rice drove up a few minutes later.

At that point, there were variations of the story that were told by four different parties involved.

“I pulled up and I saw Cameron and Ms. Stephens arguing,” said Rice. “Then another guy came and punched me.

“That’s when Mr. Cameron came over and grabbed me, wrestled me to the ground and pinned me down,” Rice continued. “That’s when I felt my leg snapped.”

Rice added that Cameron had raked him across the eyes, making a claw motion across his right eye and pulling it to demonstrate to Judge B. Elliott Bondurant.

“His fingernails were gouging my eyes out and I had deep eye scratches,” Rice added.

Stephens said her view of the scuffle didn’t gain her attention because she was arguing with Cameron.

“I saw Terry approach the nephew and he didn’t say anything,” Stephens said. “But I saw Shawn walk over there and break up the fight between Terry and whoever that person was.

“Shawn tackled Terry to the ground, and the other guy got up by my car.”

The other guy was Shawn’s nephew, Joshua Cameron, who said that Rice was the instigator of the physical alternation.

“When he drove up the driveway, I thought he was going to hit me and pin me with his car,” Joshua Cameron said, commenting he was standing outside of his uncle’s car getting fresh air. “That’s when he [Rice] charged and punched me first.”

Shawn Cameron testified, saying that he was asking for his ring back from Stephens because of the alleged cheating in the relationship.

“I asked her if this was what she really wanted and I knew that they had a couple of day affairs in the past,” the defendant said. While I was doing that, I saw out my peripheral vision that my nephew was being hit.”

Shawn Cameron said that he placed Rice in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground. From that point, stories varied on how the fight came to an end. But the end result still saw Rice being injured.

Defense attorney Richard Collins questioned Rice about his relationship with Stephens, as well as the altercation. During the victim’s testimony, Collins showed a transcript from the preliminary hearing.

“You never testified that you got up again and he tackled you again,” the defense attorney said, pointing to Rice’s comments about him being assaulted more than once. “You said you weren’t angry or mad but here, you said you were.”

But New Kent Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Renick also used documentation in his argument, pointing to an affidavit signed by Stephens who spoke about the incident. In the affidavit, Stephens said that she saw Cameron attacking Rice.

Closing arguments by both lawyers focused on the actions, with each one taking a different approach.

“His story was not believable, and the witnesses do not have any credibility,” Renick said. “They were looking for trouble. They followed her to New Kent, and if she drove to California, they would probably follow her there as well.”

Collins said that even if the charge was reduced to unlawful wounding, the element of intent was not met by the Commonwealth.

“Mr. Cameron didn’t know where he was going,” Collin said. “He had no intent and the injuries that Rice suffered are consistent with wrestling. That could have happened with his nephew when in the driveway.”

But after hearing the evidence, Bondurant said there was one clear moment in the case that swayed his thought process.

“As far as the court is concerned, it doesn’t matter who started the fight,” the judge said. “The nephew testified that Rice was standing over top of him and that’s when Cameron wrestled him to the ground.

“But as I recall, Rice made a claw-like motion over his eye and the injury,” Bondurant continued. “That motion is consistent with his injuries shown in these pictures.

“Mr. Cameron drove 40 miles to follow his wife,” the judge said as he began to wrap up his comments. “He wants to make me thing he’s a God-fearing person because he was at church. But in reality, he is also a convicted felon and I find him guilty of the unlawful wounding.”

A presentence report is being prepared, with formal sentencing for Cameron expected to take place on Feb. 13, 2023.