Woman pleads guilty to stabbing former boyfriend

By Linda Cicoira

A county woman pleaded guilty to stabbing her former boyfriend and possessing cocaine Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court.

Forty-three-year-old Shykeva Neshay Mears, of Parksley, admitted to unlawfully wounding Bennie Hatney at their Adelaide Street home on Nov. 3, 2024.

Cocaine was found at the site. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Baker said that when police arrived, they found the defendant was intoxicated and the victim, who was outside the residence, had been stabbed in the chest. Mears was initially charged with malicious wounding. That count was reduced.

A charge of bringing an unlawful drug into the Accomack Jail was not prosecuted as part of a plea agreement. Baker said when Mears was being processed at the sheriff’s office, a pipe fell out of her clothes, and another pipe was found in her wig.

Mears was sentenced to two years in prison for each offense, with all but six months suspended. Upon release, she will be on supervised probation for three years and good behavior for five.

The maximum sentence for the charges was 15 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.