Belle Haven man gets 15 years in shooting case

By Linda Cicoira

     A Belle Haven man who shot his girlfriend, drove her to the hospital, and then waited around for her to get treated in late 2021 was given a prison term this week.

     Twenty-four-year-old Jaylon Calvin Harmon, also known as Jaylon C. Kellam, of Cemetery Road, was sentenced Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to a total of 15 years of active time in prison for the attempted murder of his child’s mother and related charges. Three of those years were for violating probation for previous violent offenses.

      Harmon pleaded guilty to malicious bodily injury of his girlfriend, Kaitlyn Pipplin; attempted first-degree murder of Pipplin; abuse and neglect of a child; unlawful shooting during the commission of a felony; reckless handling of a firearm by a felon; assault and battery of Officer J.S. Rose of the Onley Police Department; and attempting to disarm Rose.

According to evidence, Harmon and Pipplin got into an argument on Dec. 3, 2021. Harmon’s reaction was to take a pistol out of his jacket pocket. The woman was hit with gunfire in her legs and stomach. Pipplin grabbed her son and ran outside and fell in the grass when she realized she had been shot.

“My son was rubbing my head and saying, “No, Mommy, No,” the woman told authorities.

     Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan said the defendant took Pipplin to the hospital, where she told a nurse what Harmon had done. Two officers struggled to arrest Harmon. The prosecutor said Officer J.S. Rose, of the Onley Police Department, felt the defendant “get through one of the safety barriers of his holster” while he was attempting to restrain the suspect.