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Chesterfield man convicted in 2018 slaying of brother

PRINCE GEORGE – A Chesterfield County man charged in connection with the Summer 2018 slaying of his brother in Prince George now awaits his sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder late last month.

In an interview, Prince George County Commonwealth Attorney Susan Fierro confirmed Broderick Giles had been found guilty of committing second-degree murder and using a firearm of the commission of murder in the county’s juvenile and domestic relations court on July 24.

His conviction comes just over a year to the day of when police were called to Sandy Ridge Road on July 14, 2018 for a report of a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at a home in the area. That man was later identified as Lathius Giles, who later died from his injuries at John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell.

Within hours, investigators with the Prince George Police Department announced they had arrested Lathius’ brother Broderick in connection with his murder, charging him with second-degree murder and a felony firearms charge.

The case had been scheduled to advance to the trial phase in November of 18 but, the case would be delayed several months before concluding with the July 24 trial in Prince George’s JDR Court. During the course of the case, the county’s lead prosecutor declined to discuss specifics about the case due to the ongoing status of the case but, following the July conviction, Fierro detailed some of their findings.

“The Commonwealth’s evidence, presented by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Mark Barnard, showed Lathius Giles was shot three times in the back of his torso and his head,” she detailed. “The Commonwealth presented the videotaped police interview from the day of the shooting where Broderick Giles admitted he shot his brother. In the same interview, Broderick Giles told the detective that after he shot his brother, he reached into his brother’s pocket and retrieved a gun and placed it near his brother’s hand, where the police had found the gun.”

During the July trial, Broderick Giles testified that he acted in self-defense after his brother Lathius “threatened to kill” both Broderick and their mother.

“He testified that his brother pointed a firearm at him and was facing him at the time of the shooting,” Fierro said. “The Court found his testimony was inconsistent with his prior statements and the Commonwealth’s evidence.”

Local prosecutors argued for Broderick to be convicted of a higher charge of first-degree murder but the court, presided over by Judge Edward Tomko, III, declined their arguments, along with a defense request to see Giles convicted of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

When asked about a motive, Fierro said it appears there was a dispute over money that led to the deadly shooting.

“We argued in court that [the shooting] was over financial issues in the family, but it is hard to know what the true motive is for any crime,” she said. “Based on some of the evidence and the prior arguments between the two brothers, we thought it was over financial issues within the family.”

With Giles conviction now comes the sentencing phase which, according to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office, will see him returning to Prince George JDR Court on September 26 for sentencing, where he faces between five to forty years behind bars in a state prison.