FAIRFAX, Va. — The man charged in a brutal domestic-related shooting was found guilty by a Fairfax County jury.
Jurors deliberated for roughly three hours in two days to convict Collins Agyei of malicious wounding and unlawful use of a firearm.
Prosecutors argued that Agyei shot the mother of his 7-year-old son several times at her apartment in Mount Vernon area in February 2023.
They said he strategically waited for her to drop their son off at the bus stop before he confronted her. The victim, Esther Arko, recorded a cellphone video of her interaction which included a struggle and her running away screaming for help. In the video, you could hear a few gunshots.
The prosecution also said security footage captured Esther Arko could be stumbling out of the door while Agyei walks out with a gun in his hand. She was found by first responders in a neighbor’s front yard with gunshot wounds.
The defense argued how law enforcement failed to consider other suspects nor attempt to conduct more tests on physical evidence.
Following the verdict, the victim’s brother Ebenezer Arko told jurors through a video conference call how the shooting changed their lives forever.
He said she relies on a walker and an aide to take care of her eight hours a day, five days a week. He says she can no longer hang out with her son the way she used to.
Ebenezer Arko is working as much as 65 hours a week to try to support their needs.
“Esther is the closest sibling to my heart,” he testified. “I was devastated knowing the possibility of her dying. I felt empty. I was hurt. I was extremely hurt. Since that day until now, I still go through that emotional pain.”
Meanwhile, the defense had Agyei’s stepmother Kimberly Funn testify. She said since he moved to the country from Ghana, Agyei struggled to adjust to the American culture and being in school.
“He never really fit into school,” Funn said. “He had difficulty distinguishing what was real on TV and what was not real on TV.”
Jurors are considering their statements to determine the sentence for Agyei, who could face between five and 20 years in prison for malicious wounding.
Initially, he was charged with aggravated malicious wounding, with a possible sentence of up to life in prison. Judge Randy Bellows downgraded the charge after he ruled the Commonwealth failed to disclose pertinent information to the defense.
In a November pre-trial hearing, the surgeon who took care of Esther Arko testified that she suffered vocal damage. However, the surgeon admitted to prosecutors that he mistook her for another patient.
Her condition to testify in the trial was in question over the use of police body camera footage, which the prosecution said identified Agyei as the attacker.
Sentencing will resume Wednesday morning.