randy taylor – C-VILLE Weekly

‘Middle ground’: Murphy pleads guilty to girlfriend slaying

Trina Murphy has already sat through a long murder trial—that for the death of her niece, 17-year-old Alexis Murphy, in 2014. She did not want to do the same for her son. Xavier Murphy, 24, was charged with second-degree murder in the June 22 shooting of his girlfriend Tatiana Wells.

Wells’ family also didn’t want a trial, and they wanted Murphy, who had a child with Wells, to be accountable for her death. That’s why on October 22, Murphy pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and firing a gun in an occupied building. The plea agreement strikes “a reasonable middle ground,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Wilder.

One of Wells’ family members wept as Wilder read a statement of facts about the incident in room 335 in the Days Inn in Charlottesville. Murphy and Wells had argued, but he told police he did not intend to shoot her in the head with his 9mm semi-automatic gun. Police also said he wanted to kill himself.

The defendant, slight with a goatee wearing black-and-white prison garb, mouthed “I’m sorry” to Wells’ family as he left the courtroom, and he gave a wave to his mother and supporters.

Penalties for voluntary manslaughter range from a minimum of one year to a maximum of 10 years in prison. Murphy will be sentenced February 26.

Randy Taylor prosecutor Anthony Martin resigns

Anthony Martin, the Nelson County commonwealth’s attorney who got a murder conviction without a body in the case of missing teen Alexis Murphy, resigned from his position January 26 after being reelected in an unopposed race in November.

In an e-mail, Martin says, “[R]eally it boiled down to wanting a change after 10 years of prosecution. An opportunity to go back into private practice came up and I decided to take it.”

Martin did not say which firm he will join March 1. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jerry Gress will be sworn in as acting commonwealth’s attorney until a special election is held.

In May 2014, Martin prosecuted Randy Allen Taylor for the murder of 17-year-old Murphy, whose disappearance in 2013 right before the start of her senior year at Nelson County High rocked the region. She was last seen with Taylor, who was sentenced to two life terms. Martin accomplished the extremely rare legal feat of obtaining a conviction without a body.

“There’s precedent, but such cases are few and far between,” legal analyst David Heilberg told C-VILLE after the trial. The last such local case was the 1983 conviction of Glenn Haslam Barker for the year-earlier murder of 12-year-old Charlottesville schoolgirl Katie Worsky. “Murder cases are difficult enough, especially if you have no body,” he said.

Heilberg says he’s sorry to hear about Martin’s departure. “I really like working with Anthony,” he says. “He’s a good guy and a straight shooter.” Martin is “tough but fair,” adds Heilberg. “That’s not easy to do as a prosecutor.”