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Security Guard Gets 50 Years for Shooting Wife

Damond J. Austin cursed and wept as he told a Henrico County detective that he'd been driven to a point of rage when he learned that his wife of 14 years had been cheating on him. He shot her at point-blank range in the left temple.

Henrico Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Frank LaRuffa argued that Austin, 33, had carried out a reign of terror and domestic abuse within the family for years, even as he regularly worked and provided for the family.

The culminating act of abuse came on that February night, LaRuffa said, when Austin attacked his wife as she held the couple's infant daughter and then fired a round from a .40-caliber handgun into the woman's head.

Starshema Austin, could not bring herself to speak of the tragedy Wednesday. The bullet is dangerously lodged in her throat, and she suffers from severe sensory loss in her eyes and ears. Much of the left side of her face is the product of reconstructive surgery.

In May, Austin pleaded guilty to aggravated malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He faced up to life behind bars.

Henrico Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. ordered Austin to prison for 50 years: 70 years with 23 years suspended for the shooting and three years for use of the firearm.

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Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.

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