John Robert Conroy Jr., a 37-year-old male, died on March 8, 2016, in his Partlow, Virginia, home. His death was the result of multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by the 15-year-old son of his girlfriend. The tragic event unfolded after a prolonged argument between Conroy and his 36-year-old girlfriend escalated into a physical altercation.
According to reports, Conroy began physically attacking his girlfriend in their home on Towles Mill Road.
Her teenage son, Bailey Doggett, witnessed the assault and intervened. The boy retrieved a semiautomatic firearm that was in the house and shot Conroy several times in the chest and back. When sheriff's deputies arrived at the residence around 3:45 p.m., they found Conroy deceased in the front room. His girlfriend was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Following the shooting, Bailey Doggett was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Despite his age, the decision was made to try him as an adult. During legal proceedings, Doggett's defense maintained that he acted in fear for his mother's safety. It was also stated that Conroy had a mental illness and was not on his medication at the time of the incident.
A key point in the court proceedings was the judge's ruling during a preliminary hearing that Doggett did not have the right to use deadly force because Conroy was unarmed. This set the stage for a complex trial. Ultimately, a jury found Bailey Doggett not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of John Conroy Jr.
