Conditional pardon given to Virginia woman in 2013 slaying

(AP) Virginia’s governor has granted a conditional pardon to a 26-year-old Colonial Heights woman serving 20 years for second-degree murder.

Kelly Thomasson, Virginia’s secretary of the commonwealth, said the paperwork for Margaret Dacey’s pardon was to be delivered to her at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. Of four young defendants in the case, only Dacey was convicted in the 2013 death of Russell Mack.

“Ms. Dacey has served over seven years of her sentence of incarceration and has shown remorse and a commitment to public safety,” Thomasson said in a statement. Aided by state Sen. Joe Morrissey, a Richmond Democrat, Dacey submitted a petition for a conditional pardon, and Thomasson said it had been under review since Gov. Ralph Northam received it earlier this year.

Dacey must complete a re-entry program before release and undergoing supervised probation for three years, Thomasson said. Under a conditional pardon, an inmate’s sentence is reduced but the conviction remains on his or her record.

Four defendants were charged similarly with murder and murder by mob offenses. After a jury acquitted Jonathan Guy, then-Commonwealth’s Attorney William Bray said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to proceed with the charges against two other defendants, leaving Dacey, then 17, as the sole defendant. She was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to 30 years in prison with 10 suspended for second-degree murder.

The confrontation that led to Mack’s death occurred when the four defendants drove to Mack’s apartment after he challenged Guy and Ashley Mack to come over, according to court documents. At the time, Guy was seeing Mack’s estranged wife.

During the confrontation, Dacey kicked Mack in the head, causing him to fall backward and fracture his skull, according to evidence presented at trial. The impact caused internal bleeding and Mack’s brain to swell, and he died 17 days later after he was removed from life support.

Prosecutors argued that the kick delivered by Dacey, an accomplished soccer goalie, was not incidental or causal. But the defense argued Dacey was startled by a splash of cold rain water when Mack, who was heavily intoxicated, fell backward into a puddle after being pushed by his estranged wife.

Northam’s decision surprised Mack’s parents, who didn’t know a pardon was being considered until a Virginia Parole Board representative called Dec. 6 with the news that it was granted, according to Mack’s father, Mike. He said he believes Dacey should serve more of her sentence.

“It’s very displeasing to the family — all of us,” the father said. “It would have been a very nice courtesy for one of the governor’s people to call saying, ‘We’re sorry but we’re looking into releasing (Dacey) and we feel that she’s been rehabilitated.’”

Former House Speaker Kirk Cox and Delegate-elect Mike Cherry, both Republicans from Colonial Heights, said they are both “deeply concerned” by the way Northam issued the pardon.

“The sheer lack of input from Rusty Mack’s family is wrong, and once again confirms that the Governor’s version of ‘justice’ ignores victims,” Cox and Cherry said in a joint statement Dec. 10.