Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
A Surry County man who shot and wounded two people in a James City County road rage case last year was sentenced Monday to two life terms. Joseph Paul Adams, 45, pleaded guilty in July to shooting two people — a 45-year-old woman and her 17-year-old son — at the intersection of Monticello Avenue and Centerville Road. Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Holly B. Smith sentenced Adams to consecutive life sentences on two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, according to online court records. Smith sentenced Adams to another 19 years on other felony shooting and firearms charges, records show. About 3 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2024, Adams was driving his Toyota Solara on Centerville Road, heading toward John Tyler Highway. Police say he then “aggressively approached” another vehicle that had just pulled out of a neighborhood. The victim’s vehicle stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Centerville and Monticello. Adams then pulled up and “fired at least five rounds at the victim’s vehicle on the passenger side.” The car stopped about a mile away, at the intersection of Monticello and Greensprings Plantation Drive, where medics provided first aid. The driver, Molly Haskin, had been shot in the face and was flown to a Richmond hospital with wounds that police described as life-threatening, though she has since recovered. Her son, Luke Haskin — a swimmer and musician at Jamestown High School — was shot in his arms and taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center. A third occupant, also a minor, was not wounded. One of the car’s occupants used a cellphone to “record the suspect shooting at the victim’s vehicle,” the complaint said. Flock Safety cameras in the area captured Adams’ Toyota shortly after the shooting. Police learned he had boarded the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, which shuttles vehicles across the James River to Surry County. Surry sheriff’s deputies found Adams asleep in the driver’s seat, holding a gun his lap. A Breathalyzer determined he had a blood alcohol content of .19, or more than twice the legal limit of .08, the complaint said. Adams also had methadone in his system, according to a report from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. While Adams was locked up at the regional jail last December, jail staffers investigating a fight questioned him about whether he had a weapon. He admitted that he did, a criminal complaint said. Adams was searched, and guards found a metal shank tied to a string on his waist. Adams was sentenced Monday to a year behind bars for the “prisoner with a deadly weapon” charge. But Williamsburg-James City County Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green said he argued at the hearing that the state sentencing guidelines in the case — which called for a sentence of about 15 years — were “woefully inadequate.” “I argued that the guidelines … should be disregarded and that there should be an extreme deviation from those guidelines as they failed to adequately encapsulate what Mr. Adams did on that day to our community,” Green said. All three people in the victims’ car testified for the prosecution at Monday’s hearing. “They walked through how they are still significantly impacted by this both physically and psychologically,” he said. Molly Haskins “still has recovery yet to go with regards to the reconstruction of her jaw and teeth,” Green said. “And then her child still has fairly significant nerve damage from the injuries to his arms, and his grip and his fingers still aren’t working properly.” Haskins’ husband and the mother of the other minor who was in the car also testified. So too did several people who saw the Haskins’ car came to rest against a tree and helped until paramedics arrived. “Unlike many cases that seem to have a dramatic impact on a small circle of people, this was a case that had an enormous impact on an enormous swath of our community,” Green said. Adams said gave a brief statement before the sentence saying he “wanted to apologize to the victims.” His attorney, Robert Jones, did not immediately return a phone call Monday. Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com
