Man guilty in June shooting of sailor

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A Virginia Beach man was found guilty Wednesday by a jury for his role in a June 2012 shooting.

According to Macie Pridgen with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, the jury recommended James W. Hawkins, Jr. spend more than 40 years in prison for a long list of charges including aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm, abduction and kidnapping and violation of a protective order.

On the night of June 12, Pridgen said Hawkins armed himself with a handgun and borrowed a truck from a friend. He and a co-conspirator drove to the home of a woman involved in a domestic situation with Hawkins in the Wadsworth Shores military housing complex. The two men forced a male victim from the home inside of truck and shot him several times.

Detectives found two masks within blocks of the crime scene and neighbors had recognized Hawkins as a neighbor they had not seen in a while, according to Pridgen.

The victim was shot in the left arm, left leg and torso, and Pridgen said he will likely be medically discharged from the U.S. Navy.

Hawkins wrote a letter to members of the Navy and U.S. Attorney's Office admitting to shooting the victim.

Hawkins' alleged co-conspirator is scheduled to be in court March 19, 2013.