By Ashley McLeod, staff writer
Dec 11, 2015, 15:34
CHESTERFIELD — A Dinwiddie man charged with fatally shooting and killing a man during an altercation at a party near Chester was sentenced in Chesterfield Circuit Court on Monday.
Mathew McCraw, 21, will serve eight years of a ten-year sentence after pleading guilty in court to shooting Jesse Weston, 20. McCraw was originally charged with murder, but the charge was amended to voluntary manslaughter.
The incident occurred in the 8100 block of Hopkins Court on September 21, 2014. McCraw arrived at the party with friends but was told to leave the residence. After refusing to leave, a fight broke out between some of the partygoers and those with McCraw.
During the altercation, which Weston was attempting to break up, McCraw pulled out a handgun, which he shot twice. One of these shots hit Weston in the forehead, killing him. McCraw and his friends then left the scene.
Police arrived at the house at about 3:58 a.m. and pronounced Weston dead. McCraw, who was easily identified by witnesses as the shooter, was apprehended shortly after. McCraw was held without bond until pleading guilty in court in November.
McCraw was also charged with using a firearm in the ission of a felony, which was declared nolle prosequi in court. He was sentenced to ten years with two suspended, and 30 years of supervised probation after his release from incarceration.
