LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A jury convicted Gregory Veres of first-degree murder and felony hit-and-run in connection to the death of his girlfriend, 40-year-old Dawn Marie Meade, in 2017.
On Monday, a Louisa judge upheld the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Veres to life in prison. Veres also received an additional 11 years for two other charges.
On Sept. 22, 2017, Veres allegedly began arguing with Meade about a restraining order. Meade then reportedly walked home after separating from Veres.
Veres then, according to the release, “hunted” Meade down with his grandmother’s car and drove off the road and hit Meade as he was traveling at 60 mph. At the trial, Veres testified he was too drunk at the time and didn’t know what he was doing.
“This is a tragic case where the Defendant killed his girlfriend and treated her worse than a dog. He killed her in the middle of the night and left her alone, cold, and in the dark, on the side of the road,” said Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty E. McGuire.
Veres’ defense called on an expert witness, Richard McGarry, “to opine the defendant’s BAC would have been too high to know what he was doing,” the release said. The Commonwealth had Dr. Jim Hutchings, currently working at the Department of Forensic Science, testify during the trial.
Dr. Hutchings refuted McGarry’s claims.
“The defendant’s changing of his clothes from a bright fluorescent shirt to a dark sweatshirt before he killed the victim, coupled with his aggressive driving demonstrated a premeditated intent to kill,” argued McGuire and Wood during closing arguments.
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