CLIFTON FORGE, Va. – A Georgia man has been sentenced for the murder of a Clifton Forge resident in 2020, according to Ann Gardner, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Alleghany County.
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On Tuesday, 44-year-old Kenneth Staples was sentenced to life suspended after serving an active sentence of 35 years for a 2020 Clifton Forge murder, according to Gardner.
Back in September, Staples was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of 41-year-old William Brandon Wright of Clifton Forge, court officials said.
[READ MORE: Georgia man facing several charges in connection with Clifton Forge murder]
We’re told the incident took place on April 26, 2020, at Wright’s home in Clifton Forge.
Officials said officers with the Clifton Forge Police Department found Wright a day later on April 27, 2020, while conducting a well-being check on Jefferson Avenue.
“Officers spotted a male on the floor through the window, at that time officers made forcible entry into the residence to locate a male unresponsive with apparent head trauma,” the then Clifton Forge Police Chief Chad Wickline told 10 News in 2020.
Gardner said several law enforcement agencies worked together to find Staples, who had stolen Wright’s truck and fled to Georgia. He was taken into custody by the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, as we reported.
At an earlier hearing on September 22, 2022, Staples pled no contest to first-degree murder in connection with the incident, according to Gardner.
During his sentencing Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, Staples was sentenced to life in the penitentiary suspended after serving an active sentence of 35 years, Gardner said.
After he’s released, officials said Staples will be placed on supervised probation for five years after which he will be on unsupervised probation for the remainder of his life sentence.