Chesterfield man gets 5 years in death over child’s Spiderman T-shirt

-- A Chesterfield County man was sentenced to 5½ years in prison today for the negligent killing of his live-in girlfriend who was fatally shot during an argument over their child's Spiderman T-shirt.

After a nearly 2-hour hearing in Chesterfield Circuit Court, substitute Judge John R. Alderman sentenced Bryant Kyle Saunders, 27, to 10 years in prison with 4½ suspended for involuntary manslaughter in the April 20 death of Jennifer Rachel Wilson, 22.

In deviating sharply from state sentencing guidelines, which called for a 6-month active jail term, Alderman said he was troubled by Saunders' actions in the confrontation leading to Wilson's death. She was fatally shot in the head while the two struggled over a gun.

Saunders wept uncontrollably at times during today's hearing, as did members of both families, as he and several others testified about the tragedy and the devastating impact it had for everyone.

"It changed my whole life," Saunders said. "I lost my best friend. I had just asked her to marry me" several days earlier. "It's tearing me up inside."

Defense attorney Shannon Taylor described Wilson's death as nothing more than a tragic accident, and she said much of the evidence supported that view.

But prosecutor B.J. McGee said Saunders could have walked away from the confrontation after Wilson threw a loaded gun across the room of their trailer in the 14000 block of Hiller Drive. Instead, he picked up the gun and resumed the argument, and the gun discharged during a struggle, striking her in the head, according to evidence.

The couple's then-2-year-old son apparently witnessed his mother's shooting and was splattered with some of her blood. Although Alderman said he believed Wilson's death was something more than accidental, a state medical examiner concluded that Wilson's head wound was consistent with a shooting that was "not an intentional act."

Deborah Davis, Wilson's mother, said her daughter's 6-year relationship with Wilson was frequently volatile and she wavered on whether to leave him. When she began dating him at age 17 while still in high school, it was the "beginning of her end," Davis said.

According to evidence, Saunders grew upset on the morning of April 20 when he saw Wilson gathering up some of their son's clothing to give away, including a Spiderman T-shirt that Saunders considered a keepsake. Their son adored Spiderman and had posters, videos, clothing and other memorabilia of the comic book hero.

-- Mark Bowes