Heather Michon
Editor
A Kents Store man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the 2023 killing of his aunt.
Quentin Lamar Burgess, 26, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder and was sentenced Feb. 19 in Fluvanna County Circuit Court to 40 years in prison, with five years suspended.
The conviction stems from an Oct. 6, 2023, homicide at a residence on Ferncliff Farms Lane in the Kents Store area.
According to the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the home at approximately 6:15 a.m. for a reported disturbance.
Witnesses led deputies into the residence, where they found 57-year-old Carolyn Faith Grooms suffering from severe head injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses said they found Burgess standing over her body, and he was taken into custody.
According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Jeffrey Haislip, family members believed Burgess had shown signs of mental illness that increasingly manifested in violent outbursts. Grooms, who had raised Burgess from infancy, had grown fearful of her nephew and had begun locking her bedroom door at night.
On Oct. 5, she called deputies to the home and asked that Burgess be taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Deputies reported that he made no threats against Grooms and did not appear to pose an immediate danger to himself or others.
Investigators said Burgess later told them that when he left his bedroom around 5 a.m. on Oct. 6, he saw Grooms exiting her room across the hall. He said she appeared frightened and ran down the hallway, which angered him. He told investigators he grabbed her by the neck and pushed her to the floor, then picked up an iron and struck her in the head.
Burgess was later evaluated at Central State Hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia.
Because there was evidence he understood the nature and wrongfulness of his actions, his attorney did not believe an insanity defense would succeed. He entered a guilty plea Nov. 20, the day his bench trial was scheduled to begin.
The Sheriff’s Office announced the sentencing in a Feb. 26 press release, thanking the Fluvanna County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Section and public safety partners for their work on the case.
The office also extended condolences to the Grooms family and described the killing as a “senseless tragedy.”
“Incidents of violence within the home have lasting and devastating impacts on families and communities,” said Maj. David Wells. He encouraged anyone experiencing domestic conflict, emotional distress or a mental health crisis to seek assistance.
