ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997 TAG: 9704170065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK THE ROANOKE TIMES
Rhonda Cunningham says she was angry at her spouse for staying out all night and the gun went off when he tried to stop her from shooting herself.
After staying out on the town all night, Garrett Cunningham got home about the time Clifton Chitwood was going to work.
Chitwood was waiting to catch a bus at 10th Street and Moorman Avenue in Northwest Roanoke about 5:30 a.m. Oct. 23. He could see that when Cunningham arrived at his house across the street, his wife was waiting at the front door.
Rhonda Cunningham began to yell at her husband for "screwing around all night," Chitwood would later tell police. She threatened to kill him as they took their argument inside.
Before catching his bus, Chitwood heard two gunshots.
Six months later, Rhonda Cunningham was in Roanoke Circuit Court on Wednesday to plead guilty to killing her husband in what she still says was an accident.
Cunningham, 37, entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder and use of a firearm, meaning that she maintains her innocence but concedes the state has enough evidence to convict her. The plea is entered as guilty. She told Judge Clifford Weckstein she didn't want to risk a first-degree murder conviction that a jury might give her.
As part of a plea agreement, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice Ekirch will ask for no more than 11 years and five months when Cunningham is sentenced July 2. That's the mid-point of Cunningham's range of punishment under the state's voluntary sentencing guidelines.
Cunningham, who came to court carrying a Bible and was accompanied by a large group of friends and relatives, was allowed to remain free on bond until she is sentenced.
Detective Mike Meador of the Roanoke Police Department gave the following summary of the evidence:
After responding to a call of shots fired at 603 10th St., police arrived about 5:30 a.m. and found Garrett Cunningham in an upstairs bedroom, sitting on the floor with his back to a bed. The 42-year-old man had been shot in the side of the head. He died a few hours later at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Cunningham, who was in the bedroom when police arrived, told them she accidentally shot her husband during a struggle. She said they argued after he got home, and that she tried to shoot herself out of frustration over their stormy relationship.
When the first shot missed, Cunningham told police, her husband grabbed the gun and was shot accidentally as they struggled for the weapon.
Cunningham said she had had "problems for some time" with her husband during their several years of marriage, Meador testified. But Ekirch said she could find no court records of Cunningham being abusive toward his wife.
Defense attorney Jonathan Kurtin said evidence will be presented during the sentencing hearing that will explain his client's actions. He declined to elaborate.
An autopsy found that Garrett Cunningham had been drinking and using cocaine before his death.
Prosecutors offered the plea agreement because they were not sure there was sufficient evidence to prove premeditation, which is required for a first-degree murder conviction. Although Ekirch agreed to ask for no more than 11 years and five months, the agreement does not prevent Weckstein from going above her recommendation. The maximum sentence for second-degree murder and use of a firearm is 43 years.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES. Rhonda Cunningham enteredby CNBan Alford plea Wednesday to second-degree murder and use of a
firearm. color. KEYWORDS: ROMUR