Authorities in Virginia say a man murdered his wife, then killed another man who had come to check on her—before fleeing with his two young children and a pair of firearms.
Joshua Corbett Coleman, 30, of Henry County, is facing multiple charges after allegedly shooting and killing both his 22-year-old wife, Mandy Michelle Coleman, and 68-year-old William Leroy Morey on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded around 1 p.m. to a report of a shooting outside a home on the 200 block of Meeks Road. They arrived to find Morey dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the driveway.
Inside the home, deputies discovered Mandy Coleman dead from a single gunshot wound. Investigators determined Morey had gone to the residence to check on her wellbeing.
By the time deputies arrived, both the suspected gunman and the couple’s two children—ages 10 months and 2 years—were gone, sparking a multi-agency search that included the Virginia State Police.
Roughly 90 minutes later, police stopped Coleman’s vehicle. Inside, they found him armed with a handgun and an AR-15-style rifle. The children were also in the car but unharmed, officials said. Coleman was taken into custody without incident and is being held without bond at the Henry County Adult Detention Center.
According to a criminal complaint reviewed by local outlet WDBJ, Coleman confessed to both killings. He told investigators that he and his wife had argued and that he accused her of infidelity before shooting her in the head.
He then placed the children in his vehicle and left the home with the intention of finding and killing Morey, reportedly telling police, “I knew I was going to jail, so I wanted to kill him too.” When Coleman couldn’t locate Morey at his own residence, he returned to the Meeks Road house—where he found and allegedly shot him.
Sheriff Wayne Davis said Morey had no familial ties to the Colemans, and the nature of his relationship to either remains unclear.
“This is a heartbreaking and tragic situation that has deeply affected two families and our entire community,” Davis said in a statement. “By the grace of God, I think our community has witnessed a miracle in recovering those children safely.”
Authorities say the case first came to their attention when a neighbor saw two vehicles arrive at the home and then heard gunfire.
Coleman is now facing two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, one count of shooting from an occupied vehicle, and two counts of child abuse and neglect. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
Henry County is located in southern Virginia near the North Carolina border.
