Mercado case moved to Northampton JDR Court

By Linda Cicoira

The case of a young man suspected of killing his 73-year-old grandmother in February in Cape Charles was moved to Northampton’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court recently.

Because the shooting death of Jane Grigsby McKinley occurred at her Tazewell Street home and her grandson, 25-year-old Anthony David Mercado, who lived with her, is the suspect, the case is characterized as domestic and was moved there from General District Court.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for late May. If adequate evidence is shown to certify the case, it would be sent to a Northampton Grand Jury.

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In addition to second-degree murder, Mercado was charged with shooting in an occupied dwelling, reckless handling of a firearm, possession of a gun with a Schedule I or II drug, two counts of possession of controlled substances, and unauthorized distribution of controlled drug paraphernalia.

Mercado is being held in the Eastern Shore Regional Jail. The alleged crimes occurred on Feb. 24.

After a shooting was reported, Mercado was waiting for officers on the stairs of the house.

He “told us he had just shot someone who entered his house and she was upstairs and not alive,” Officer T. Lynch of the Cape Charles Police Department wrote in a report. “I found the body of his grandma upstairs. He was later interviewed (and) he told us he shot her multiple times as she was stepping away from him.”