June 11, 2021
HENRY COUNTY, Va. – A Henry County man will be sentenced in September for the murder of a pregnant woman.
Thomas Christopher McDowell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and two firearms-related charges in the February 2020 death of Krystal McReynolds of Bassett.
Warrants show that McReynolds identified McDowell as the shooter before she died. The 34-year-old was taken to Sovah Health in Martinsville and transferred to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she later died. McReynolds had been shot in the face with the bullet lodging in her neck.
According to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, McReynolds was four to five months pregnant but lost the unborn child.
Mayor Sherman Lea spoke about gun violence in an interview Wednesday after a shooting left one injured outside the Berglund Center where a high school graduation rehearsal was happening inside.
A student was wounded by gunfire Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of the Berglund Center as his classmates gathered inside to rehearse for graduation.
The victim, a teenage boy, sustained injuries that didnât appear life-threatening, police said. Witnesses said it looked like he had been struck in the arm.
He was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The shooting erupted around 2 p.m. as members of William Fleming High Schoolâs graduating class was inside the civic center starting to rehearse for their commencement ceremony set to happen Thursday.
A student was wounded by gunfire Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of the Berglund Center as his classmates gathered inside to rehearse for graduation.