Powhatan County

6300 block of Old Buckingham Road

Gunshot

Unknown

Preliminary hearing set in Powhatan death case
By Jamie C. Ruff
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Thursday,September 4, 2008

A preliminary hearing for a Powhatan County man accused of killing his brother-in-law will be held Oct. 10.
Randolph Szenasy, 54, will remain in jail without bond, said his court-appointed attorney, William Blandford. Wearing a jumpsuit and shackles, Szenasy initially was looking around the courtroom so much that Judge Valentine W. Southall Jr. had to ask him to turn back toward the bench.

Szenasy is charged with murder and using a firearm in a felony and accused of the Aug. 29, shooting of Earl David McCoy, 48.

Deputies and rescue personnel responded to Szenasy’s Old Buckingham Road home to find McCoy dead on the front steps of the house. McCoy lived next door.

Investigators have said it appears that McCoy was shot more than once with a 9 mm handgun.

McCoy’s slaying was the third in the county this year after having gone the previous six years without a homicide.

On June 24, Tahliek Taliaferro, 18, a popular student and football player at Powhatan High School, died after being shot with an assault rifle after a confrontation at a local hangout. One of Taliaferro’s friends was wounded.

Three people are facing murder and various other charges arising from the shooting. Five others are charged with aiding them as they attempted to avoid arrest after the shooting.

Also, David Woodfin Jr., 21, is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 1 death of his uncle, Donald P. Malkemus, 49.

Powhatan man charged in brother-in-law’s death
By Linda Dunham
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Saturday,August 30, 2008

Randolph Szenasy was a familiar figure on Old Buckingham Road in the Macon area of Powhatan County.
The 54-year-old handyman would do chores for folks and was never known to be trouble, said a local man who asked not to be identified.

Yesterday, Szenasy was charged with gunning down his brother-in-law.

When Powhatan sheriff’s deputies responded shortly after noon to reports of a shooting in the 6300 block of Old Buckingham Road, they found the body of Earl David McCoy on the steps of Szenasy’s home.

McCoy, 48, had been shot multiple times with a 9 mm handgun, police said.

Szenasy was arrested without incident and charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a murder. He is being held without bail until an appearance Wednesday in Powhatan General District Court.

McCoy lived near Szenasy’s house.

Police have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.

This has been one of Powhatan County’s deadliest years.

On June 24, Tahliek Taliaferro, 18, a star athlete at Powhatan High School, was shot to death and a friend was wounded after a confrontation at a neighborhood hangout.

Joseph “Joey” Parrish, 17, and his cousin, Ethan Parrish, 24, have been charged with first-degree murder, among other charges. A third person, Stephanie Reynolds, 19, was initially charged but during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the charges against her were not certified to a county grand jury.

Reynolds, who was with the Parrishes when Taliaferro was shot, received immunity for her testimony.

And on Aug. 1, Donald P. Malkemus, 49, was fatally shot. His nephew, David Woodfin Jr., 21, has been charged in his death. Before those incidents, Powhatan had gone six years without a homicide.