By Linda Cicoira — Quanta Mapp identified two of the three men who threatened and then shot him in his yard in March 2018 while his son sat in his nearby car. The gunmen were wearing masks but he recognized them and when he told them he knew who they were, they revealed themselves, Mapp said.
Even so, the jury trial that was scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week was called off. Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan didn’t think he could get a conviction for James Ernest Logan, 35, of Woodland Park Avenue, in Accomac. The case has not been dismissed so the charges could be brought back up.
“We’re going to continue to look at the evidence,” Morgan said. “One day we would like to say it is sufficient.”
At a recent preliminary hearing, Mapp, who lived on Seaside Road in Painter, testified that his son had gotten in the car and popped the trunk so Mapp could place a fuel container inside before they went to the store. Mapp heard shouting over his shoulder and said he turned to find the three masked men pointing guns at him. The men began asking about money or drugs. Mapp said he is not connected to such activity and works at Tyson.
Edward Warner “Meatloaf” Byrd, 36, of Airport Drive in Melfa, then ordered another of the gunman to shoot, Mapp said. The victim ran away from the car so a stray bullet would not hit his son. The boy was not injured.
On April 1, Byrd was indicted in connection with the incident. A trial date has not yet been set. Both men are charged with robbery, malicious wounding, and use of a firearm.
Mapp first got shot in the arm, with the bullet going through to his stomach. Then he was shot in the head, he said. His son was not injured. Mapp said he knew the men by their voices and denied figuring out who they were based on rumors he later heard.
Mapp testified he was able to get inside his house when the men ran out of ammunition. “He started shooting at my house and shot me in the head,” he said of Byrd. “I thought I was dead. My son was still in the car.”
