Painter man found guilty in David McCain murder trial

A Painter man was found guilty of first degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime in a 2021 incident by a jury Friday afternoon.

The murder trial of Xzaviyor Snead of Painter was sent to the jury Friday in Accomack Circuit Court.  Snead was charged with the murder of 30 year old David Anthony McCain of Onancock in the parking lot of Royal Farms in Onley on June 15, 2021.

Commonweath’s Attorney Spencer Morgan in his closing remarks summarized the evidence including a video of the incident along with the identification of Snead by two witnesses,  Kellin Pippen and Jevonte Harris.   Morgan stated that the video shows that Snead exited a vehicle and approached the vehicle in which McCain was sitting and shot him twice in the head at close range.

Morgan stated that while the firearm was not recovered,  evidence including the bullets recovered from the victim and gunpowder residue found on the hands of Snead along with the witness identification and the video is ample evidence to convict Snead.

Defense attorney Carl Bundick stated that the video does not show clear evidence that it was Snead who shot McCain.  Bundick  questioned the credibility of the witnesses citing both had been involved in other criminal activity. He said that since both Pippen and Harris were at the scene, they may have identified Snead to cover their participation in the crime,

Bundick told the jury that “ you cannot rely on a man who is lying to you to save himself.”

Bundick stated that the evidence presented doesn’t prove anything.  There were no finger prints, no DNA and the gunpowder residue  was not exclusive to this incident.

Morgan responded that the evidence put together connects the points and overall it clearly shows that Snead fired the shots that killed McCain.

After deliberating for approximately 2 hours, the jury returned a guilty verdict for first degree murder and murder with a firearm.  Sentencing will be held at a later date.