Man killed in Bedford County break-in disobeyed restraining order, investigators say
LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Investigators say 40-year-old Daniel Wayne Eades, of Gretna, was killed Friday after breaking into his estranged wife's home on Commonwealth Circle with a knife.
That's when another person allegedly shot him.
The Bedford County Sheriff's Office said his estranged wife had a restraining order, and this was not the first time he has made an attempt to contact her.
Over the last six months, Eades has been charged on suspicion of a series of crimes.
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Eades was charged with violating restraining orders, as well as damaging property.
In some instances, Eades was accused of slashing his ex-wife's tires and spray painting her friends' cars.
Although officers don't have a motive for Friday's attack, Capt. Brian Neal says his estranged wife took all the right steps to prevent this .
"She did everything she could in terms of obtaining the appropriate paperwork and he was notified of the paperwork, knew he knew he shouldn't have any contact with her, but still made the attempt to harm her," Neal said.
Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney Wes Nance says Eades had just been on his office's radar.
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"Because he had no prior felony convictions, they were all just misdemeanors, he really just started to come to attention of law enforcement and my office when the tragic events of Friday night took place," Nance said.
At the time of Eades' death, Nance says he was a fugitive after failing to appear in court last month.
Leading up to Friday's incident, Nance says he was concerned about Eades' state of mental health.
"The problem is you have to ask for judicial officers, law enforcement and prosecutors to look into the future and the only way you can do that is the nature of the present acts and their prior criminal history to get a gauge on what type of risk this person shows. Although Mr. Eades behavior started to escalate, it still wasn't at the point that a judge determined that he was an immediate risk that he should be held without bond," Nance said.
Nance said it's difficult to hold a person without bond when they are charged with a misdemeanor that holds only at most 12 months in jail.
But he does wish there was more he could do in reference to mental health help.
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"Mr. Eades was not to the point that he was incompetent, but my office's interaction with him did draw concerns. If there was treatment that could be court ordered, that's not presently built into our system, that would be a great way to learn from this and similar instances," Nance said.
The person authorities say shot and killed Eades has not been charged, but the investigation is still ongoing.
