CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake judge on Monday sentenced a man to 22 years and 11 months in prison for the 2022 murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Anthony Leonard Johnson, 63, pleaded guilty to the Nov. 27, 2022, murder of Valarie McElroy. He received the sentence from Circuit Court Chief Judge Marjorie A. Taylor Arrington.
The victim and defendant were previously romantically involved, but he continued to pursue her after she ended the relationship, according to a press release from the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Matthew R. Hamel.
On the day of the murder, Johnson came to the store where she worked and had to be escorted off the property. Later that day, she did not arrive at a pre-arranged meeting with a friend. After friends and family were unable to contact her, they contacted the Chesapeake Police Department for a welfare check. Officers found her inside her apartment already dead from multiple stab wounds. Johnson was also found unconscious in the apartment, bleeding from stab wounds that were apparently self-inflicted.
McElroy’s two daughters provided written statements to the court, the press release stated. Her brother also testified at the sentencing hearing.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233. Victims of domestic violence can also reach the Samaritan House’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 757-430-2120.