Woman to serve three years for stabbing husband
pjd/ms/cr
The ex-fiancee of a volunteer Prince William County Sheriff’s deputy who shot him from underneath his desk was sentenced Thursday morning.
Sandra D. Kearney, 46, of Duncansville, Pa., received a 10-year sentence with seven years suspended on condition of three years probation and completion of mental health counseling.
The volunteer deputy, 47-year-old Gene Suarez Jr., was shot twice with a handgun he had urged Kearney to buy. Kearney, formerly of Haymarket, was issued a handgun permit in April 1999, according to Circuit Court records. Suarez had taken Kearney target shooting during their relationship, employee Paul Hammond told the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger in April 2002.
On the morning of April 17, 2002, Kearney hid under Suarez’s desk at S&K Industries, the corn chip factory Suarez co-owns with his father. When he arrived and another employee arrived about 9 a.m., she crawled out and shot him at nearly point blank range, Hammond, production manager at S&K Industries, said in April.
“I heard that when she jumped out, he turned to run out the door, so she didn’t shoot him straight on,” Hammond said in April. “We’re just very thankful he’s all right.”
Suarez managed to detain Kearney until Manassas Park police officers arrived. He was then flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital and treated for non life-threatening injuries. Kearney’s getaway was further impeded when a carpet truck blocked her car in the parking lot, Hammond said.
Kearney pleaded guilty to a charge of malicious wounding Nov. 18, 2002. An additional charge of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony was dropped by the Commonwealth.
Staff writer Maria Hegstad can be reached at (703) 368-3101, Ext. 121.