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The Rotunda
Friday, February 28, 2025

Trial Date Set for Darryl Elmore, LU Shooting Suspect Elmore has been charged with second-degree murder

 On Tuesday, Nov. 19, 52-yearold

Darryl Elmore’s indictment

was presented to the grand jury

with a trial date set with his

attorney, M. Kevin Bailey.

Elmore is currently charged

with second-degree murder

of John “Jay” Robles, 46, of

Mechanicsville.

Elmore was originally charged

with voluntary manslaughter

before being amended to

felony murder and finally to

second-degree murder. 

 Elmore is also charged with

reckless handling of a firearm

and possession of a firearm by a

convicted felon.

Robles was found dead in a

construction trailer at Lancer

Park on April 6 from a gun

shot wound. The 911 call came

in to the Longwood Police

Department at approximately

7:45 p.m. on April 6. At the time,

Elmore worked for English

Construction as a subcontractor.

The initial investigation was

done in conjunction with the

Virginia State Police and the

Longwood University Police 

 Department.

Chief of the Longwood

University Police Department

Bob Beach said that he believed

the gun that was used in the

shooting was a .9 mm semiautomatic

handgun.

Elmore is currently being held

in the Piedmont Regional Jail.

On Nov. 5 at a preliminary

hearing at the Prince Edward

County Courthouse, Bailey was

appointed to Elmore.

Bailey reported that Elmore

has not confessed to murdering

Robles, saying, “[There is] not

a whole lot of evidence in the 

 case.”

“It’s a case where it’s going to

come down to the experts who

are testifying on ballistics, on

the proximity of the weapon and

those types of things,” Bailey

said.

He added, “What it will come

down to is whether it was an

accident or whether it was a

malicious killing.”

The investigation is still

ongoing by the Virginia State

Police Department.

More information will be

available as it becomes open to

the public.