Capital murder suspect’s case to go to grand jury

A man charged with capital murder in the death of a Charlottesville woman killed in her home waived his right to a preliminary hearing this afternoon.

The charges against William Douglas Gentry, 22, will now go to a grand jury Tuesday. If he is indicted, the case will then go to Circuit Court for a possible trial.

Jayne Warren McGowan, 26, was found dead in her St. Clair Avenue home on Nov. 9. Gentry and his 18-year-old cousin, Michael Pritchett, were arrested days later and charged with capital murder and a host of other charges.

The purpose of today's preliminary hearing would have been to determine whether there was probable cause to send Gentry's charges to the grand jury.

Lloyd Snook, Gentry's attorney, said he is familiar with the prosecution's evidence and that there would have been no benefit to going forward with a potentially difficult and emotional hearing in which authorities would have testified about the details of McGowan's death and the subsequent investigation.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Pritchett told police after he was taken into custody that he and Gentry entered McGowan's home with the intention of robbing her, and that both he and his cousin shot her.

McGowan worked as an event planner for the AIDS/HIV Services Group in Charlottesville.

Find the full story in Friday's Progress.