Man get five years for making threat to former girlfriend

By Linda Cicoira

Retired Judge W. Revell Lewis III sentenced a former Parksley man to the maximum five years in prison Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court for threatening his former girlfriend with a text message in early 2024 stating he would kill her, have sex with her dead body, and set it on fire.

Forty-year-old William Marcel Custis has already spent more than 11 months in the Accomack Jail awaiting trial and sentencing for the Jan. 27 threat. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in September. It was unclear if he will appeal the decision.

When I look at your criminal history, which goes back several years across three pages,” the judge said. “It just seems that you don’t get it.”

Defense lawyer Carl Bundick wanted the sentence to be time served. “This was a crime of communication. It’s not one that he sought her out and assaulted her in any way,” Bundick said.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fox said, “This is not the only incident she has had with Mr. Custis.” There have been previous protective orders and assault and batteries. “She does not have feeling on one side of her face” from a prior incident. “Those threats were resounding to her. She was clearly terrified. She is still terrified today,” the prosecutor added.

The victim previously said the two were discussing their relationship, and both had accused the other of cheating. After he made the threat, she said she stopped communicating with him. She was going to the Hampton Roads the day the text was sent to her.

The next day, the woman went to the sheriff’s office and showed the text and picture to a deputy, who obtained a warrant. She later got threats from others through Facebook telling her to drop the charge.

“When I go to work at night, I have flashbacks,” she testified saying she feels that she always has to watch her back. “I really take it to the heart. I believe he will kill me … I don’t even sleep at night.”