A special prosecutor concluded that a Virginia State Police trooper was justified in using deadly force earlier this year when he fatally shot a man in Floyd County.

A former Floyd County animal-control officer will have to spend 140 days in jail for shooting a farmer instead of the cow he was aiming at. A jury deliberated nearly two hours yesterday before convicting Garland Nester, 45, of recklessly handling a firearm, a misdemeanor, and acquitting him of the more serious, felony charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Floyd County animal-control officer Garland Nester went to kill an errant cow but shot a farmer instead. A jury could begin deliberating as early as today whether Nester should be punished for the farmer’s death.

Trial in Floyd County looks into circumstances behind farmer’s death Floyd County animal-control officer Garland Nester went to kill an errant cow but shot a farmer instead. A jury could begin deliberating as early as today whether Nester should be punished for the farmer’s death. Yesterday, on the first day of Nester’s trial for involuntary manslaughter in Floyd Circuit Court, special prosecutor Clifford Hapgood told jurors that Nester’s use of a firearm during the May 29 incident near Meadows of Dan showed gross negligence and callous disregard for the safety of others, leading to the death of 75-year-old Paul Belcher.

FLOYD Brian and Desirae Harman don’t get as much sleep as they’d like. While the Harmans spent many nights last year in the hospital tending to their son, Chance, as he battled a rare brain tumor, they now have a different reason for stressful, sleepless nights. Chance spent seven months in and out of surgery and chemotherapy, before dying July 6, 2007, at the age of 4.