New Church man sentenced to a total of 18 years for voluntary manslaughter in death of Melfa resident

By Linda Cicoira

A New Church man was sentenced Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to a total of 18 years in prison for the shooting death of a Melfa resident and related firearms charges that occurred in November 2024 outside the Dollar General Store in Mappsville.

Forty-six-year-old Jamal Anthony Samuel, of Holland Road, was initially charged with the second-degree murder of 43-year-old Maurice Anthony Holden. In July, a jury convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm in a murder. Samuel pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon.

Judge W. Richard Savage III exceeded the guidelines in sentencing Samuel to 10 years for manslaughter, five years for using a firearm, and three years for possessing the gun, as recommended by Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan.

Judge Savage ordered the terms to run consecutively. He denied defense lawyer Patrick Bales motion to suspend some of the time. The judge also prohibited Samuel from having any contact with the victim’s family members, who filed impact statements.

“The defendant has a terrible criminal record … 31 charges, some of which were very serious,” the judge said. “He has a violent nature and is a threat to the community.”

Samuel can appeal the manslaughter and gun-use convictions. Judge Savage appointed Bales to handle an appeal, which must be filed within 30 days.

In a prepared statement, Morgan later said, “Through the diligence of Accomack County Sheriff’s Office investigators, the commonwealth was able to advocate for a sentence to protect the community” by successfully obtaining “the maximum time allowable after the jury reduced the homicide charge from second degree to manslaughter.”

“The jury didn’t know about his other crimes,” Morgan told the court during the sentencing. The defendant “has a fundamental misunderstanding of how to act … he has taken a life,” the prosecutor said.

“I’m truly sorry for their loss,” Samuel said, while turning to look at Holden’s family. “That night, I was minding my own business, smoking a cigarette … I just wanted to go home.  I feared for the safety of my life … I changed my life since I was released from the penitentiary.”

Bales said, “The jury did not find him guilty of murder. They did not find malice here. He was acting in self-defense … He has done everything he could to atone for his criminal past.  He’s been employed. He did not go looking for this situation. This situation came looking for him.” Bales contended that letters of support and his efforts should be taken into account.”

Samuel told authorities that he shot Holden in self-defense because he thought Holden had a gun.

Morgan said there was no evidence that the victim was armed and that his hands were in his pockets when he was shot multiple times, including twice in the back. The prosecutor said Samuel has gang affiliations and has admitted as much. Court records also revealed that the two men had known each other, said Morgan. When they were juveniles, they had committed crimes together.

Court records disclosed that witnesses and surveillance footage showed Holden was at the check-out counter of the business at about 7:20 p.m. when a woman pulled her car up to the store and went inside. While she was shopping, Holden left the store with his purchases. Samuel got out of the passenger side of the woman’s car and threw a bottle at Holden. Holden then put his purchases in his car and approached the suspect. When deputies arrived at the scene on Lankford Highway, they found Holden suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim died at the scene.

Samuel was convicted of grand theft and use of a gun in a felony in April 2009 when he lived in Accomac, so it is illegal for him to possess a firearm.

     While it sounds unusual, being convicted of using a gun in a murder while not actually being convicted of murder was upheld in another case decades ago.