On a summer morning in Prince George County, Virginia, a family dispute over finances turned deadly, leaving one brother dead and the other facing a murder charge. Lathius A. Giles, a 53-year-old man, was shot and killed on July 14, 2018. The tragic event unfolded at his family's home on Sandy Ridge Road, where he resided with his mother.
Responding to a call about a shooting at 10:33 a.m., police arrived to find Lathius A. Giles with three gunshot wounds to the back of his torso and head. The weapon used was a. 380-caliber semiautomatic pistol. His younger brother, Broderick R. Giles, a 44-year-old Chesterfield County resident and local hip-hop artist known as B. Giles, was identified as the assailant.
During a police interview on the day of the shooting, Broderick Giles admitted to shooting his brother. He claimed he acted in self-defense, stating that Lathius had threatened to kill him and their mother and was pointing a gun at him. However, the prosecution presented evidence that contradicted this claim. Investigators found that after the shooting, Broderick took a gun from his brother's pocket and placed it near his hand. The brothers' mother was present in the home at the time of the shooting and likely heard the gunshots but was unable to witness the incident due to medical disabilities.
In a bench trial in Prince George Circuit Court, Broderick R. Giles was convicted of second-degree murder. The judge, W. Edward Tomko III, found the defendant's testimony to be inconsistent with his prior statements to the police and the physical evidence. The prosecution had argued for a first-degree murder conviction, while the defense had sought a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Ultimately, the court settled on the second-degree murder conviction. Broderick R. Giles was scheduled to be sentenced on September 26 of the same year.
