Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence
Man Sentenced to 15 Years After Pleading Guilty to 2nd Degree Murder of Girlfriend in 2024
NORFOLK, Va. — Quinton Dwyan Wade, 38, pleaded guilty on April 29 to the second-degree murder of his girlfriend, 35-year-old Jessica Ayers, at her residence last year.
Mr. Wade and his two children had been living with Ms. Ayers and her child at her apartment on Dudley Avenue. On March 27, 2024, the couple got into an argument in the living room, where the children were playing video games. Ms. Ayers’ child went to the children’s shared bedroom to isolate himself from the argument, Ms. Ayers joined her child in the room soon after, and she shut the door behind her. Mr. Wade followed and continued to instigate the argument from the other side of the door.
When Ms. Ayers opened the door to continue speaking to Mr. Wade, he was holding a gun. Seeing the gun, Ms. Ayers fell backwards and attempted to reach for a different gun that she had kept hidden under one of the children’s beds. Unable to immediately reach her gun, Ms. Ayers stood back up to talk Mr. Wade down. Mr. Wade nonetheless shot Ms. Ayers once in her abdomen and fled the apartment using Ms. Ayers’ car.
Ms. Ayers died shortly after being transported to a hospital. The firearm that Ms. Ayers kept under the bed had been moved to the adults’ bedroom by the time Norfolk Police arrived at the apartment to process the crime scene. Mr. Wade turned himself in the following day.
On Tuesday, Mr. Wade entered an agreement to plead guilty to second-degree murder and be sentenced to serve 15 years in prison with another 10 years suspended on the conditions that Mr. Wade be of uniform good behavior and comply with supervised probation for five years following his release. In exchange for Mr. Wade’s guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to dismiss a related firearm charge and not pursue a conviction for first-degree murder. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Wade’s plea agreement, found him guilty, and sentenced him per the agreement. Mr. Wade’s sentence was within his state sentencing guidelines.
“I extend my condolences to Ms. Ayers’ son and her family; but for Mr. Wade’s crime, she would be here today,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “As in many intimate-partner homicides, Mr. Wade committed this murder in the home, with only Ms. Ayers’ son as a direct witness. Mr. Wade’s guilty plea spared Ms. Ayers’ son the pain of testifying to his mother’s death and the uncertainty of a jury’s reaction to the victim’s attempt to reach for a gun herself. Mr. Wade has accepted responsibility for what he has done, and he will serve a substantial sentence in prison for taking the life of someone he claimed to love. We will continue to focus our office’s resources on holding accountable the people who commit violent crimes in Norfolk.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jessica L. Terkovich and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michelle L. Newkirk prosecuted Mr. Wade’s case, and Norfolk Police Detectives Kyle D. Austin and Maura A. Flatley led the investigation.
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