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Earl Wayne 'Butch' Reynolds (left) appears in court to plead guilty to killing his 13-year-old daughter, Kayla.
Reynolds |
Earl Wayne "Butch" Reynolds sat with his head down, wiping his eyes and biting his lower lip yesterday morning.
The 45-year-old Partlow man waited solemnly in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court as judge David H. Beck decided to accept the agreement, in which Reynolds pleaded guilty to the murder of his 13-year-old daughter.
Beck read each indictment aloud and Reynolds replied "guilty," hesitantly and quietly, to the charges of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and malicious wounding.
Reynolds opted yesterday to accept the plea agreement rather than face the jury trial scheduled for next week.
He was charged with the murder of his daughter, Kayla Reynolds, after she was shot to death in the early morning hours last Aug. 20 on the family's front porch.
Earl Reynolds was also charged with the aggravated malicious wounding of Amber Barnett, his pregnant stepdaughter, for a gunshot wound to her neck.
That charge, however, was reduced to malicious wounding yesterday by Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney John C. Bowers, in exchange for the plea.
In August, Reynolds was also charged with two counts of using a firearm in commission of a felony, one of which Bowers dropped yesterday as well.
Reynolds' pleas of guilty were all Alford pleas, and his defense attorney, Mark Gardner, told the court that in Reynolds' case, the Alford plea was because his client did not have a clear recall of the events that led to his daughter's death.
"He wants the court and the community to know he takes full responsibility," Gardner said.
Reynolds will be sentenced Aug. 27.
First-degree murder carries a maximum of life in prison; malicious wounding carries a maximum of 20 years in prison; and the firearms charge carries a mandatory three years.
Bowers said the sentencing guidelines for the case call for 34 years in prison, which would make Reynolds 79 when he is released.
Bowers said however, that he would probably ask for more time behind bars than the guidelines call for.
"There is absolutely no agreement regarding the ultimate sentence," he said.
Gardner said in court yesterday that he would be presenting a psychiatric evaluation at the sentencing hearing.
After court, he said the evaluation, which has already been completed, was not enough to support an insanity plea but does provide "mitigating circumstances" that will be relevant for sentencing.
Bowers said that he plans to put Barnett, Kayla's half sister who was also shot Aug. 20, on the stand at the sentencing hearing.
Barnett also testified at Reynolds' preliminary hearing, where she told the court she was afraid for her life the morning of the shooting.
According to the plea agreement and evidence at the sentencing hearing, Reynolds, Barnett and Kayla got into an argument about his use of drugs the night before the shooting.
The argument continued for hours and at one point, Reynolds went to borrow a gun from a friend. He then returned, shot a car and fired a shot that missed Barnett.
He then shot Barnett in the neck, and she fell to the ground.
She testified that she heard Kayla say "No, Daddy, no," and then another shot was fired.
Kayla died on the porch of a gunshot wound to the head.
Reynolds was arrested soon after police arrived, when they found him leaving the woods behind the family's home. Since the day he was arrested, he has admitted to the shooting.
Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424
Email: ebiltz@freelancestar.com
