A Virginia Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for fatally shooting his wife while the couple’s three children were in the house.
Brandon Wysong, 34, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder, illegal use of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The sentence issued by Circuit Judge Steven Frucci was the maximum Wysong could get under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, according to a spokeswoman for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. It also was at the high end of what state sentencing guidelines recommended Wysong serve based on the circumstances of the crime and his background.
The shooting happened Nov. 4, 2019, at the Wysongs’ home, near the intersection of Great Neck and Wolfsnare roads.
Wysong had gotten into an argument with his wife, Elena Wysong, that afternoon and she left with her three children, ages 12, 5 and 4, according to a statement of facts filed in the case. The 12-year-old is Elena’s Wysong’s daughter from a previous relationship but she shared the other two with Brandon Wysong.
Elena Wysong was planning to go to a family member’s house but decided to return home to pick up her oldest daughter’s pregnant cat. When she got back to the house, she saw Wysong had destroyed and flung around multiple items in the home. She and Brandon Wysong got into an argument in the living room, during which Wysong head-butted her in the forehead.
The oldest daughter saw Wysong pull Elena Wysong into the laundry room with a gun in his hand, then heard her mother screaming and multiple gunshots. The girl had to force her way into the room afterward because her mother’s body was blocking the door. Once inside, she wrapped towels around her head to try to stop the bleeding, attempted CPR and used her mother’s phone to call 911.
Police K-9 units located Wysong hiding in the woods a short time later. In an interview with detectives, he admitted shooting his wife and hiding his gun at a park. He took the detectives to the park and the gun was recovered by police.