Chesterfield County

13751 Jefferson Davis Highway

7 AM

Gunshot

Domestic

Man, 25, wanted in slaying at plant / Police say argument over woman set off violence at Pre Con
By Mark Bowes
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
Wednesday,April 2, 2008

Police continued to search last night for a Petersburg man accused of fatally shooting a former co-worker early yesterday outside an industrial plant in Chester.

Investigators obtained warrants charging Christopher Tyrone Clagon, 25, of the 400 block of Orange Lane with first-degree murder and felony use of a firearm in the slaying of Dell Shawn Wiley, also 25, of the 10000 block of Ridge Run Road in Chesterfield, said Chesterfield police Maj. Ben Mize.

Police allege that Clagon shot Wiley several times with a shotgun after a 7 a.m. argument over Wiley’s estranged wife in the parking lot of Pre Con Inc. in the 13700 block of Jefferson Davis Highway.

Wiley, who had previously worked at the plant, was there to pick up his estranged wife, who is a Pre Con employee. Clagon, who also worked there, was romantically involved with her, authorities said.

The incident occurred during the shift change at Pre Con, which makes packaging and paperboard products. The plant sits in an industrial complex south of John Tyler Community College. Police said a number of employees were in the parking lot at the time of the shooting, but none was hit by gunfire.

Mize said the two men exchanged words in the parking lot, and then Clagon retrieved from his car what investigators believe was a shotgun and fired several blasts at the victim. He was dead when police arrived about 7:15 a.m.

Witnesses saw a gold Chevrolet Impala leave the parking lot after Wiley was fatally wounded. That car later was found parked outside the Orange Lane home in Petersburg where Clagon lived, Mize said.

Investigators searched the house but could not find Clagon.

He was described as 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. Anyone with information about his whereabouts can call Chesterfield police at 748-1251 or Crime Stoppers at 748-0660.

The shooting did not appear to significantly affect operations at the Pre Con plant, where one worker said at least 100 people were employed. Company officials kept reporters off the premises and refused repeated requests for comment.

Police roped off a portion of the parking lot with yellow police tape as forensic detectives gathered evidence and processed the scene. Police wrapped up their operation by about 11 a.m.

Iris Anderson, a former Pre Con employee, walked up and down Jefferson Davis Highway yesterday morning in front of the plant, waiting to retrieve her car in the parking lot. She let her son, an employee there, drive to work with the understanding that she would pick up her car after a 6 o’clock appointment up the street.

“I had an extra set of keys and when I got down here, they told me I couldn’t come in,” Anderson said. “I happened to look over [toward the parking lot] and I seen a body laying there with a white sheet over it. My heart went in my shoes.”

She feared for her son.

But her worry soon turned to relief when her son called from inside the plant. He couldn’t talk, but she knew he was safe.

The day’s events left her “very scared,” but Anderson said that won’t deter her employment plans.

“I’m coming down here next week to try and get a job.”

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Gun found near home of slaying suspect
By Mark Bowes
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
Thursday,April 3, 2008

A shotgun believed used in Tuesday’s slaying of a Chesterfield County man outside a Chester manufacturing plant has been recovered near the home of his alleged killer.

The weapon was found in a wooded area outside the Petersburg home of Christopher Tyrone Clagon, 25, who has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Dell Shawn Wiley, said Chesterfield police Maj. Ben Mize.

With the help of a police tracking dog, investigators recovered the gun during a search of Wiley’s home and surrounding property in the 400 block of Orange Lane, Mize said.

About 15 hours after the shooting in the parking lot of Pre Con Inc. in the 13700 block of Jefferson Davis Highway, Clagon surrendered about 10 p.m. Tuesday to police in Carteret, N.J., about 17 miles from Manhattan.

“We’ll probably know a little bit more about whether he’ll come [back to Virginia] voluntarily or he’ll have to be extradited,” Mize said.

Police said Clagon doesn’t appear to have a violent past. “There’s no red flag that goes up with his name,” Mize said.

Clagon is accused of fatally shooting Wiley, 25, about 7 a.m. Tuesday after an apparent argument over Wiley’s estranged wife, whom Clagon had been dating, police said. Wiley, who had previously worked at the plant, had driven there to pick up her up at the end of her shift, police said.

Police said the two men exchanged words, then Clagon, who also worked at the plant, retrieved a shotgun from his car and fired several blasts at Wiley. He was pronounced dead when officers arrived about 15 minutes later.

Witnesses reported seeing a gold Chevrolet Impala leave the parking lot moments after the shooting, and a car matching that description was found later Tuesday behind Clagon’s Petersburg home, police said.

Wiley is Chesterfield’s fourth homicide victim of the year.