PRINCETON —
Two last suspects in the 2011 murder of a Bluefield High School student are now scheduled to enter guilty pleas in Mercer County Circuit Court.
Joseph Flack Jr., 44, of Bluefield is scheduled to enter into a plea agreement Thursday morning when he appears before Judge Omar Aboulhosn, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash said Tuesday. He was facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Matthew Flack of Bluefield.
Matthew Flack died Jan. 29, 2011 after being shot during an attempted robbery at his Magnolia Street home. An investigation led to the arrest of his cousin, Brandon Flack, 21, of Pulaski, Va. and three other suspects including Joseph Flack, Jr.
Joseph Flack, Jr. will be entering into guilty pleas for voluntary manslaughter, burglary and conspiracy, Ash said. He could face a determinate sentence of three to 15 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, and indeterminate sentences of one to 10 years for burglary and one to five for conspiracy.
In an determinate sentence, the judge sets the maximum time a person must serve. For instance, if a sentence is for 10 years, the total 10 years must be served. The time that must be served varies on a indeterminate sentence.
Another suspect who was a juvenile at the time of the murder, Jacob Thomas, 19, of Pulaski, Va., has agreed to waive his status from juvenile to adult, Ash said. He has agreed to plead guilty to the same charges as Joseph Flack, Jr. Thomas is currently being held at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver.
Thomas is scheduled to undergo an evaluation at the Anthony Correctional Center before he is sentenced, Ash said. The result of this evaluation is expected by October.
Two other people are currently serving time for Matthew Flack’s murder.
A Mercer County jury found Brandon Flack guilty April 26 of first-degree murder. In June, Judge Aboulhosn sentenced him to life in prison with mercy, meaning he could be eligible for parole in 15 years. However, he was also sentenced to a term of 40 to 45 years for first-degree armed robbery and one to five years on a conspiracy charge. Aboulhosn waived the burglary charge and combined it into the murder charge. Brandon Flack will be eligible for parole in 26 years.
A second person, Jasmen Montgomery, 27, of Pulaski, Va. also pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with mercy in the shooting death of Matthew Flack. He was sentenced in November 2011 to life imprisonment with mercy.
Matthew Flack’s death prompted concerned citizens in 2011 to speak out in response to the violence they were seeing in their community and spurred a series of meetings to address ways to deal with it.
Local News
August 1, 2012
2011 murder of BHS student: Two suspects slated to enter guilty pleas
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