Judge Paul Ridgeway sentenced Jessie James Harris, 46,of South Boston, Va. to a minimum of 141 months in prison for the Jan. 30, 2005 murder of Barbara Link Cunningham, 53, of Alton, Va. in the presence of her grandson at the Roxboro Days Inn motel on North Madison Boulevard.

Cunningham was beaten to death with a toilet tank cover. Harris, who was has been in custody since Feb. 3, 2005 awaiting trial, was given credit for time already served. Ridgeway gave Harris a maximum sentence of 179 months, after Harris, in mid-trial, entered a plea of no contest to second-degree murder. Harris copped the plea at approximately 12:30 p.m. Friday.

Harris had been charged with first-degree murder in the case and faced life in prison had he been convicted by the 12-person jury.

The decision to enter into the plea agreement came just before testimony was to begin from North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Mackenzie DaHaan. DaHaan is classified as an expert in drug chemistry and body fluid identification. Her testimony would have been followed by an SBI agent specializing in DNA. Oxford attorney David Waters, Harris’ court-appointed council, asked for a recess prior to DaHaan’s testimony. A short time later, the plea agreement was reached.

The legal term for “no contest” is “nolo contendre.”
Among evidence that was about to be presented from the state, Waters said during Friday’s plea proceedings, was key information from DaHaan. Waters said DaHaan was going to testify that Cunningham’s blood was found on a pair of Harris’ pants, which authorities retrieved after Harris was taken into custody in South Boston, Va. on Feb. 3, 2005.

It was pointed out in court Friday that Cunningham was Harris’ cousin.

Several times during the proceedings, District Attorney Joel Brewer referred to Cunningham’s demise as a “bludgeoning death.” He also repeatedly mentioned that when Cunningham’s badly-beaten body was discovered in Room 117 of the Days Inn motel, her two-year-old grandson was in the room.

Brewer said Friday the state was willing to accept the plea of no contest because “I can not find any evidence that [Harris] intended to kill [Cunningham] before” they were in the motel room.

Brewer went on to say, however, that the murder was “a gruesome death … one that no one should endure.” It was alleged before and during the trial that Harris beat Cunningham to death with a toilet tank cover, which was found shattered near her body in the motel room.