CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake City Council member was indicted by a grand jury on a felony charge Tuesday, online court documents show.
Amanda Newins faces a charge of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. It comes after her great aunt, Shirley Davis, filed a lawsuit against Newins for elder abuse in September 2022. She sought $891,000 in damages.
Kristen Paulding, Newins' attorney, sent a statement to 13News Now denying the allegation against her client: "We are disappointed that the Commonwealth has decided to charge Amanda with this offense. Amanda was practically raised by her uncle and the allegation that she financially exploited him, is absolutely not true."
Chesapeake Mayor Rick West declined to speak directly about the accusation levied at Amanda Newins, but released the following statement: "If we ever allow mere allegations to affect how we govern we will have abandoned our democratic principals."
In a statement provided to 13News Now, Chesapeake Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Hamel said his office requested a special prosecutor in September after police confirmed an investigation into the matter was underway.
"The court appointed the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the County of Roanoke to investigate this matter," Hamel wrote. "My office has taken no part in the charging decisions or the procedural process of this case.”
A spokesperson said Roanoke County Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Bill Braxton has been assigned as the special prosecutor but "won't be able to talk about the case due to ethics rules on pretrial statements though."
Court records show that Newins turned herself into police custody overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday and then posted bail.
Newins was elected to Chesapeake City Council in November 2022 as one of the five winners in the at-large election, garnering nearly 37,000 votes.