Mercado convicted of First Degree Murder of grandmother

By Linda Cicoira

The young man who shot his grandmother to death in February 2024 at their Cape Charles home was convicted Wednesday by a Northampton Circuit Court jury of first-degree murder, discharging a firearm in an occupied dwelling, use of a firearm in the commission of murder, malicious shooting during a felony, reckless handling of a firearm, and destruction of property valued at less than $1,000. The jury deliberated for about an hour and 45 minutes.

Just after Jane Grigsby McKinley was killed at the Tazewell Street residence, 26-year-old Anthony David Mercado admitted in a recorded video interview played for the 12-member jury that he emptied the clip of his Glock 17 Gen5 9mm semi-automatic pistol when he killed the woman he called “Memaw.”

He later claimed he didn’t recognize the figure who kicked in his bedroom door, was yelling, and wielding a billy club. He said he believed he was about to be beaten when he reached for his firearm. Mercado said his mother owned a similar club. A pestle—a small, rounded grinding tool—was found in the victim’s pocket.

Prosecutor Jack Thornton described the incident as an act of “ultimate violent betrayal. A kind, elderly, but vibrant woman, full of life and active in her community … shot to death by her own grandson.” Thornton said McKinley was 73 years old, 5 feet 2 inches tall, and weighed 97 pounds.

“There are no trials with greater significance than the willful taking of another’s life,” Thornton said. “The victim is dead. There is no coming back from it. In a murder case, one person has robbed another person of the most precious of all things.”

Evidence presented at trial, including graphic autopsy photos shown during the medical examiner’s testimony, revealed that McKinley had sustained 14 gunshot wounds, resulting in 27 entry and exit holes.

Defense attorney Patrick Bale said the case was not about whether Mercado killed his grandmother, but why. He argued that his client had experienced psychosis and hallucinations brought on by the antibiotic Bactrim, which Mercado had started taking again the day before the shooting. Although those side effects are rare, the defense claimed they were a factor.

Mercado testified that he felt nauseous and jittery, and that he kept seeing a strobe light flashing, which made him feel as if he were being transported between his bedroom and the hallway.

He had been prescribed Bactrim about a year earlier but hadn’t completed the full course. Police initially believed the pills found in his possession were cocaine, but testing later confirmed the substance was the antibiotic. The cocaine charge was dropped at a preliminary hearing.

Additional unusual testimony emerged during the trial. An expert explained that Bactrim is typically prescribed for urinary tract infections and other bacterial conditions—not for rat poisoning, which Mercado claimed he had been treated for. He testified that he had been bleeding from the anus and was extremely fatigued, which prompted him to resume taking the medication. He also claimed someone had fed him shards of glass at his previous residence.

Mercado had moved in with McKinley a few months earlier after being kicked out of his stepfather’s home. He now faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction.

The jury was given 22 pages of instructions, which included the option of considering involuntary intoxication due to Bactrim as a factor in their verdict.