Chesterfield jury recommends five years in manslaughter case

A Chesterfield County jury today recommended that Joseph Wayne Garrard be sentenced to five years in prison for the Jan. 13, 2008, shooting death of his daughter’s 19-year-old former boyfriend.

The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated just over 2 1/2 hours before delivering its decision at 2:40 p.m. in Chesterfield Circuit Court.

Judge T. J. Hauler today set formal sentencing for May 4.

Garrard also will be sentenced at that time on a related charge of possession of a firearm by a felon.  He could get up to five years for that offense.  The previous felony conviction, about 20 years ago, was for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Late Thursday, after a two-day trial, the jury convicted Garrard, 39, of voluntary manslaughter in connection with a 4 a.m. encounter with Derek Stringfellow Best just inside the front door of Garrard’s home.

Jurors appeared to take the middle road in deciding that Best’s fatal shooting was something less than a murder but something more than just an accident.  The panel rejected the original charge of first-degree murder, as well as a lesser count of second-degree murder.

Neither the defendant’s nor the victim’s family seemed happy with the outcome. 

Garrard’s family believed he was simply defending them from a frightening incursion into their home after Best, who was legally intoxicated, pounded loudly on their front door in the middle of the night.  Best was accompanied by his brother, his brother’s girlfriend and another friend—all strangers to Garrard and his wife.

Best’s shooting, they claimed, was the unintentional result of alcohol-fueled beligerence.

Best’s family, however, believed Garrard maliciously shot Best after the young man went to their home to talk about Garrard’s 17-year-old daughter, who tormented and mistreated the teen that night and throughout their contentious relationship.

Best’s death, sparked by his racially charged remark about Garrard’s daughter, was nothing short of premeditated murder, they claimed.

Hauler today described the case as “very emotional and highly charged.“

The case, as Hauler noted Thursday, came down to the credibility of several witnesses—three for the prosecution and three for the defense—who all played roles in the confusing, impromptu confrontation that ended tragically.

Garrard testified he accidentally shot Best after the teen charged him during the confrontation inside his home.  But prosecution witnesses said Best didn’t behave aggressively after Garrard’s wife let him inside their home. They said Garrard had a discussion with the Best and then went upstairs to retrieve the gun after he heard the offensive remark about his daughter.