CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston man has admitted to charges in connection to the three year old murder case of his fiancé.
Michael Fleming Jr., 37, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in the May 2021 stabbing of Virginia Bradford, 34. She died at a home on Sunset Drive in Charleston.
Fleming went before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Dave Hardy in a plea hearing Tuesday afternoon.
“How do you plead to the felony offense of voluntary manslaughter a lesser offense of the indictment,” Hardy asked Fleming.
“Guilty, your honor,” stated Fleming in response.
Fleming claimed he and Bradford were arguing over giving Adderall to their infant son. He claimed she wanted to give the baby the drug.
Fleming said he found a hunting knife at the bottom of a diaper bag while he was changing their sons diaper and while Bradford had gone into the other room. He said they continued to argue when she had returned and tried to grab the knife from him.
“She grabbed the knife, took it out of the sheath and was waving it around,” said Fleming. “The last thing she said to me was that I had ruined her life, but after she was finished talking she produced the knife as though she was going to take a swipe at me.”
He said they began wrestling over the knife and through the struggle the knife went into his left hand.
Fleming went onto to say that while the knife was pointing at Bradford’s neck, and in a moment of heated passion, he stabbed her in her neck.
According to Charleston Police, officers found Bradford dead of multiple stab wounds upon arriving at 162 Sunset Drive. They said they also had found Fleming with a minor injury that he received in the altercation.
Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kenneth Bannon said it was a domestic violence situation in which Fleming had acted without malice or premeditation, but did, however, act with intent.
“Those things are a blight upon our community, they continue to create dangerous situations that have deadly outcomes,” Bannon said. “This case has been ongoing for quite some time and I’m glad we are to a point now where the family can see some justice.”
Fleming now faces 3 to 15 years in prison. However, Bradford’s family, who attended the plea hearing Tuesday said they wished he was getting put away for longer.
The aunt to Bradford, Loretta Ann Bostic told reporters that Bradford was running away from Fleming and had no intention of ever going back to him, adding that his testimony was filled with lies.
“Virginia had been living with me before she was murdered, she had been living with me because she was scared,” Bostic said. “She had been threatened by Michael before in the house that she was murdered in, she refused to ever step foot into that house because of the threats that he had made previously.”
Fleming claims he is diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and is taking medication for it.
His sentencing is set for Tuesday, June 4 at 2 p.m.