Man sentenced in Northampton for attempted murder of wife

By Linda Cicoira

A Cape Charles area man who beat and then tried to shoot his wife in the head in 2023 was sentenced Monday in Northampton Circuit Court to a total of eight years of active time in prison.

Forty-year-old Joel Antonio Guerra, also known as Joel E. Guerra, of Hungars Beach Road, pleaded guilty in an agreement with Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Thornton last July.

Monday, his lawyer, Sharri Mapp-Jones, said he wanted to take back the guilty pleas regarding crimes against his wife Michelle Spray Guerra and put up a defense in court. There were questions about whether the defendant understood English well enough to dispute the guilty pleas.

A probation officer said he told her he moved to this country when he was 10 years old, could speak both English and Spanish, and could better understand written English than written Spanish. She said he had problems with some legal terms that weren’t unusual for most people. The officer said she told him he needed to ask his lawyer about those issues.

Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. sentenced Guerra to 20 years for attempted first-degree murder with all but five years suspended and five years with all but three suspended for the use of a firearm in the murder attempt. Those terms were to run consecutively for a total of eight years.

The defendant was sentenced to 10 years with all but five suspended for maliciously shooting inside a dwelling, and 12 months each for assault and battery, brandishing a firearm, reckless handling of a gun, and destruction of property. Those terms are to run concurrently with the others. After release, he will be on good behavior for 27 years and supervised probation for five years.

Judge Lewis ordered him to have “No contact ever again in this lifetime with the victim” or her family or go on any property owned by them. He was also ordered to refrain from alcohol and pay restitution costs

Mapp-Jones said the defendant wanted to appeal the case and be appointed another lawyer. Carl Bundick was Guerra’s first attorney. When someone pleads guilty, they waive the right to appeal.

When Guerra asked to take back the guilty pleas, Lewis concluded there was no coercion or duress in signing the plea bargain. Even so, the judge appointed attorney Charles E. Hayden to handle the appeal.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Thornton said Guerra “fired twice at the head of his wife.” The gun misfired. Then, “he fired one more time.” That shot went through a pillow and damaged her phone.  Thornton said she was crawling on the floor in fear.

     According to testimony, Guerra was treated under the first offender status for possession of cocaine in 2007 and failed to go back a year later for a review as required.