A Covington man has pled guilty to charges related to an April 2020 shooting death in the city.
Kurell Montrae Wallace, 27, was convicted of second- degree murder and unlawful wounding Wednesday for the April 9 shooting at 301 E. Prospect St. in Covington.
Wallace entered guilty pleas to the two felonies and was sentenced in Alleghany County Circuit Court to 45 years in prison, which will be suspended after he serves an active sentence of 16 years.
Alleghany County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Gardner summarized the evidence against Wallace in court.
The shooting occurred just after 6 p.m. on April 9 when witnesses said two men, Romel Calloway and Quinton Haley, walked into a boarding house each carrying a firearm.
Wallace, who was present but did not live at the boarding house, claimed that he had a handgun tucked in his waistband at the time. After some conversation, Wallace admitted that he shot Haley and then fired at Calloway, killing him.
The Covington Police Department and Alleghany Sheriff’s Office responded to a “shots fired” call around 6:15 p.m. On arrival, Deputy Clinton Phillips discovered Haley on the sidewalk bleeding from gunshot wounds and wearing a bullet-proof vest.
Officer Butch Brown then found Calloway deceased in an upstairs bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds. The Virginia State Police assisted in processing the crime scene.
An investigation revealed that the shooting stemmed from an earlier confrontation with Calloway on the street and it involved Wallace and a friend brandished firearms.
In an interview with Detective Richard Baker of the Covington Police Department, Wallace admitted to the shooting and made statements that called into question any claim of self-defense.
“This was a convoluted set of circumstances and nobody was completely innocent in this encounter,” Gardner said. “The law does not allow for this kind of street warfare and it will not be tolerated. There has to be accountability. The outcome in this case was dictated by the totality of the circumstances.”
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