On September 11, 2023, in the Alleghany County Circuit Court, Kenneth Robert Phillips, Jr., 43, of Alleghany County, was sentenced to 41 years in prison to be suspended after serving a 15-year active sentence for aggravated malicious wounding and obstruction of justice.
On June 6, 2023, Phillips pled guilty to aggravated malicious wounding and obstruction of justice. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Lauren Cassel, summarized the evidence against Phillips for the Court.
On October 31, 2022, officers responded to a report of a stabbing. Upon arrival, law enforcement found a female bleeding heavily from her arm. An investigation by Covington Police Department’s Officer B.R. McGuire, Sergeant T.R. Smallwood, and Detective R.B. Baker found that Kenneth Phillips repeatedly tried to stab the victim with a 10.5-inch butcher’s knife. As Phillips raised the knife toward the victim the final time, she put up her arm in front of her body in self-defense. Phillips then stabbed her through the forearm. After his arrest, Phillips called the victim and advised her numerous times that she should ignore her court-issued subpoena and not appear in court to testify against him.
At the time of this offense, Phillips was on probation for unlawful wounding and possession of a firearm by a non-violent felon. As a result of his new convictions, Phillips was found guilty of two probation violations. The Court revoked all of his suspended sentences and ordered that time imposed on the revocation be run concurrently with his new convictions.
Phillips’ 15-year active prison sentence falls within the range recommended by the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines. Once he is released from incarceration, Phillips will remain on probation for five years. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim, be of good behavior, and obey the law as a condition of his suspended sentence.
