In the quiet community of Barboursville, Virginia, the life of 36-year-old James Darren Manning was abruptly cut short on the evening of Wednesday, June 16, 2021. A U.S. Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Manning was also a dedicated family man and a familiar face to many as a UPS driver in Charlottesville. He left behind a wife of 10 years, Jessica Ann Manning, and their three young children, a son and two daughters.
On that fateful evening, at
approximately 7:00 p.m., the Orange County Sheriff's Office received a call about a possible shooting on Hamm Farm Road in Barboursville. Upon their arrival, deputies discovered James Manning deceased from a gunshot wound. The investigation that followed, with assistance from the Virginia State Police, quickly pointed to a suspect.
In the early morning hours of the following day, June 17, 2021, authorities arrested 27-year-old Brianna Cole Knicely of Gordonsville, Virginia. The Culpeper County Sheriff's Office initiated a traffic stop on her vehicle, and she subsequently agreed to return to Orange County for questioning. Following the interview, Knicely was charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and shooting into an occupied dwelling. She was then held without bond at the Central Virginia Regional Jail. While the sheriff's office did not immediately release further details about the motive or the relationship between Manning and Knicely, the investigation continued into the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.
