A man who killed his marijuana dealer last year following an apparent dispute involving $40 was ordered Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison.
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James Allan Wright Jr., 43, was sentenced following an emotional sentencing hearing in Stafford Circuit Court, where he was convicted in June of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He shot 43-year-old Derrick Campbell 11 times on Oct. 11 in broad daylight outside Campbell’s home on Streamview Drive in the Rappahannock Landing subdivision in Stafford.
Wright continued to insist Thursday that he reacted out of fear as the result of a threat he claimed Campbell made that day. But Judge Victoria Willis said the video evidence was contrary to Wright’s story, and she pointed out that the jury rejected Wright’s defense.
Wright’s recommended state sentencing guidelines called for a maximum penalty of just under 39 years. But Willis decided on the life sentence requested by prosecutors Greg Holt and Amy Casey, along with the mandatory three years for the firearms conviction.
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Most of the evidence at trial was not disputed. Wright testified that he went to Campbell’s home that day to pay a $40 debt he owed for a marijuana purchase. He said he’d purchased marijuana from Campbell about a half-dozen times previously.
The Oct. 11 incident, which was captured on surveillance cameras, appeared uneventful for about 14 seconds. But after handing Campbell the money, Wright suddenly unloaded a series of shots into the victim within a matter of seconds. Most of the shots hit Campbell when he was already down.
At trial, Wright insisted that he reacted to a threatening comment he attributed to Campbell about “pulling my gun on y’all [expletive]” who owed him money. But prosecutors said the video showed Campbell made no aggressive moves while holding a phone in one hand and the money in the other.
They also pointed out that Wright had rejected offers to pay his debt online, or to put the money under a trashcan near Campbell’s home. They said Wright’s self-defense claim was also negated by the fact that most of the shots that struck Campbell were fired while he was on the ground.
Several of Campbell’s family members testified Thursday about the devastating impact his slaying has had. Ira Campbell, the victim’s cousin, said that as a Muslim he is supposed to forgive, “but it’s hard. You took a valuable piece of our family for $40 … that was some coward-ass stuff.”
Wright’s family members and friends expressed their own devastation and repeatedly expressed their condolences to the Campbell family members in the packed courtroom. James Wright Sr., the defendant’s father, said he is still shocked because his son’s actions were so out of character.
“I don’t love the act, but I love my son,” the elder Wright said. “He’s a good man. I don’t know who he was that day, but it wasn’t him.”
The younger Wright blamed his attorney, Ben Burchett, for “not doing a better job” and said his conviction shouldn’t have been any higher than manslaughter. He also expressed remorse to the Campbell family, though he again insisted that he’d been threatened.
“I’m truly sorry for what happened but I feared for my life. I’m not a bad man … and I shouldn’t be in this situation,” Wright said.
Willis said there was no evidence that Campbell had ever been violent, and said she struggled to reconcile the Wright described by family members and friends “with the actions shown on that video.”
“}]] A man who killed his marijuana dealer last year following an apparent dispute involving $40 was ordered Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison. Read More