Bloxom man pleads guilty to malicious wounding

By Linda Cicoira

A local man pleaded guilty to strangling and maliciously wounding an out-of-town woman Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court during a bizarre drug-induced sexual encounter that turned wrong last November.

Sentencing was deferred for two years for 26-year-old David Michael Turner, of Big Road in Bloxom. He will be on supervised probation during that time and was ordered by the court to get treatment as directed by probation.

Turner was ordered to make $2,400 in restitution for the victim’s medical expenses. If all goes well, Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. said he would follow the plea bargain agreement and reduce the crimes to misdemeanors. There was no agreement on sentencing. A return date was set for July 23, 2026.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fox said the two met online. The woman gave her permission to be beaten during sex and the two had a “safe word.” But about two hours after they shared a chocolate bar laced with psychedelic drugs at his house, Turner had a “bad trip.”

The woman told authorities that he kicked her out and locked the door. Later, when he let her back inside, he attacked her. “He got a gun …  and threatened to shoot himself,” Fox said. “When he saw her texting someone, he got angry and smashed the phone on her face for about five minutes. He began kissing her … and bit her on the cheek … and choked her,” the prosecutor added.

      The woman told police she had messaged her brother to come and get her. She said the defendant did not abide by the safe word or to her telling him to stop.