Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511300045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Denise Lomax, 41, told authorities after the Aug. 4 shooting that her .32-caliber pistol accidentally discharged when Daniel W. McPeak swung a plastic bag containing clothes in her direction.
Authorities believe the shooting was deliberate.
Judge J.L. Tompkins III certified the case to the grand jury after a Wednesday preliminary hearing in Floyd County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Deborah Bailey, who was a friend of the couple, testified she gave McPeak a ride when she saw him several miles from Lomax's house. She was going to look after Lomax's mother, she said.
Bailey testified she left the couple alone to talk for a few minutes and didn't hear any argument as she waited in another part of the house. Bailey said she had offered to leave the two alone so they could talk privately, but McPeak had asked her to stay.
McPeak had left the home he shared with Lomax several days before. He told Bailey he wanted to gather some of his clothing, Bailey testified.
Some minutes later, she was going into the bathroom and saw McPeak leaving by the back door. Next, she "heard Denise holler 'No!' real loud," then heard a shot ring out.
Bailey came out of the bathroom and saw Lomax.
"She came running in [and said] "Oh my God, I shot Daniel," Bailey testified.
McPeak was lying outside near Bailey's car. Lomax asked what she should do, and Bailey told her to get some towels.
Bailey testified she called 911 at the urging of a man who was outside with McPeak. She said she saw the gun lying on the floor, picked it up with a T-shirt and hid it.
Bailey said she was unsure why she hid the gun - fear, perhaps. "I just knew I didn't want to touch it," she said.
Lomax had shown her the gun the previous night, Bailey testified. "It scared me. I didn't like it. I told her she didn't need that thing."
Dr. William Massello, assistant deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia, testified McPeak died of a single gunshot wound to the right side of his back. The bullet perforated McPeak's right lung and heart before exiting his chest.
The wound caused bleeding around the sac that surrounds the heart and was "rapidly lethal," Massello said. The wound pattern means that McPeak's back was to the gun when the shot was fired.
Robert Spessard, Lomax's attorney, argued that wasn't inconsistent with her statement that he was running away from her after swinging the bag of clothes.
Commonwealth's Attorney Gino Williams plans to seek indictments Friday of first degree murder and using a firearm to commit murder.
Lomax has been jailed since August in lieu of $100,000 bond. Spessard called that amount excessive, and wanted a $10,000 bond set.
Williams objected, saying he had evidence Lomax "has threatened people in the community since she has been incarcerated."
Judge Tompkins said the bond-reduction hearing would have to be heard at the Circuit Court level.
McPeak's death was the third homicide in Floyd County this year.
by CNB