Disturbing allegations emerge of Kavanagh shooting in Tiger Valley
‘Children hid in a bathroom to escape Thighe’
Newly acquired law enforcement documents describe disturbing details of a shooting last summer on Hunters Road in Tiger Valley, including bullets fired into a bathroom where two subsequently injured children were allegedly hiding from their stepfather.
Thighe Kavanagh, 53, son of Tiger Valley resident Edmund Kavanagh, was charged with several felonies in connection with the July 24 shooting and accidental wounding of the fiveyear-old granddaughter of his common law wife, Sherry Dytrych, 58.
Kavanagh is pleading not guilty to the charges. His public defender in Warrenton, David Walls, did not return a request for comment Wednesday.
The girl was transported to the hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury to her leg. Her 10-year-old brother sustained minor wounds to his leg, but was not hospitalized. Both children are now in foster care, while Kavanagh and Dytrych are each being held at Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren Regional Jail awaiting trials.
According to the documents, Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Deputy
C. M. Garcia arrived on the shooting scene accompanied by Deputy Robbie Fincham “and found a male subject [Thighe] in the backyard of the residence,” according to Garcia’s written criminal complaint.
“When I made contact with the subject, I detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage that got stronger as he spoke. I also observed the subject being unsteady on his feet as well as having glossy eyes. … At this point in the investigation, we did not know where the firearm was located or where the actual scene was either.
“We had to tell the subject multiple times that he could not go inside the residence,” Garcia continues. “Each time he became more and more upset saying he could go in the house if he wanted because he lived there. We attempted to explain that he could not because of the active investigation. He also had blood on his hands, we had conflicting stories from everyone involved and one occupant of the house unaccounted for. At that point, he had to be placed into custody because he stopped following commands and began to obstruct the investigation.”
Later, Rappahannock Sheriff’s investigator James Jones reported that the children hid in a bathroom to escape Thighe.
“On July 24, 2019 while discharging a semi-automatic handgun in an occupied dwelling,” wrote Jones in his official statement, “Thigh [sic] J. Kavanagh showed a reckless disregard for the life of M.H., a 10 year old male that was hiding under his care at his father’s house.
“Two bullets passed thru the bathroom the two children were hiding in. The bullet struck the five year old in the leg [and] also shattered ceramic tile causing minor injury to M.H.’s leg. The second bullet passed behind M.H.’s head, crossed the room and went through the wall on the opposite side of the bathroom.”
Thighe’s felony charges include aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm in a felony, reckless use of a gun causing permanent injury, malicious shooting near an occupied building, disregarding the life of a child, and seriously injuring a child. The most serious charge carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison; two others carry sentences of two to ten years in prison.
His trial had been scheduled for December 19 and 20 last year, but attorneys for both sides told the court they required four days for the trial. Circuit Court Judge Herman A. Whisenant declined to stretch the proceeding into the next week, which was Christmas week.
Instead the trial was rescheduled for February 25 through 28 of this year. However, as a jury could not be seated, Whisenant called a mistrial and the attorneys and witnesses agreed to meet again March 31 through April 3.