Gentry waives hearing

A man charged with capital murder in the death of a Charlottesville woman fatally shot in her home waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Bound in shackles and wearing a black and white prison uniform, 22-year-old William Douglas Gentry quietly told a General District Court judge that he did not want to go forward with the proceeding.

As a result, the charges against Gentry will go directly to a Feb. 19 grand jury. 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 felonies.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Pritchett confessed to police that he and Gentry broke into McGowan's home to rob her. Her laptop, modem and car were missing from the house when co-workers discovered her body.

Pritchett told police that both he and Gentry shot McGowan, with Gentry firing first and Pritchett delivering the final shot, according to the search warrant.

Police said at the time that they had no indication of any previous contact between the two men and McGowan, a University of Virginia graduate who worked as an event planner at the AIDS/HIV Services Group.

Pritchett waived his preliminary hearing earlier this month, and his case is also set to go before a grand jury.

Had Gentry's preliminary hearing gone forward Thursday, a judge would have heard evidence from prosecutors and decided whether it was enough to send the case to a grand jury.

Lloyd Snook, Gentry's attorney, said Thursday that there would have been no benefit in going forward with a difficult and emotional hearing. Friends and family members of both Gentry and McGowan were in court Thursday.

Snook said he believes prosecutors should treat Pritchett and Gentry the same as their cases go through the court system.

"The evidence that the commonwealth has seems to indicate that they are equally guilty," Snook said.

Prosecutors did not say Thursday whether they plan to seek the death penalty in either case.

However, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Claude Worrell said prosecutors are required to declare their intentions regarding the death penalty in the months before such a case would go to trial.

If Gentry is indicted later this month, Snook said he anticipates initially asking for a jury trial.

However, the defense attorney said he would be talking to prosecutors as the case moves forward and that a plea agreement is possible.