NEWPORT NEWS — A Newport News man was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder in the killing of a man during a bar fight last summer.
The jury then sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
Xavier Demonye Bonilla, 28, was accused of striking Justin Michael Dudney twice in the head Aug. 3 inside the Triple Effectz Ultra Lounge in Denbigh — causing him to fall backward and strike his head on the floor.
Dudney, who was 36, was pronounced brain-dead four days later, though he was kept on life support for another two days as his organs were harvested.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma.
Bonilla was charged with voluntary manslaughter at the time. But a grand jury directly indicted him in February on a second-degree murder count at the prosecution’s request.
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During a two-day trial in Newport News Circuit Court this week, jurors viewed video footage of the incident from the restaurant’s surveillance system.
Bonilla’s lawyer, Joshua Goff, contended his client acted in self-defense, and that Dudney was the aggressor. According to trial testimony, Dudney had a blood alcohol content of .38 at the time of the altercation — or nearly five times the legal limit for driving — at the time of the altercation.
But Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jacqueline Edwards asserted a murder conviction was warranted. Even if the first blow was self-defense, she said, the second blow — which caused Dudney to fall back — was not.
The 12-member jury had the option of finding Bonilla guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter, or acquitting him. They found him guilty of second-degree murder after only about 45 minutes of deliberations.
Though most defendants now choose to be sentenced by a judge rather than a jury under the state’s new sentencing system, Bonilla opted for a jury sentence.
He faced up to 40 years on the murder count. While Edwards asked for 20 years, Goff sought five, or the minimum he faced. The jury settled on a 16-year recommendation.
Bonilla asked Circuit Court Judge Matthew W. Hoffman to immediately impose that punishment rather than holding a separate sentencing hearing later. Under Virginia law, a judge has the authority to reduce a jury’s recommended sentence, but cannot increase it.
Fight captured on video footage
The 911 call came in at 1:41 a.m. for an unresponsive white male lying on his back on the floor of the Triple Effectz lounge on Denbigh Boulevard, court documents said. A brain scan at Riverside Regional Medical Center revealed a severe hematoma and a herniated brain stem.
On the restaurant’s surveillance footage, a criminal complaint said, Dudney is seen approaching Bonilla as he sits at the bar before the punches are thrown.
“Justin Dudney’s body appears to be limp as he immediately falls back without bracing himself,” the complaint said.
Bonilla then walks out of the restaurant.
But police recognized him on the video footage from previous arrests and took him into custody. During an interview with detectives, Bonilla — who had bruised knuckles and a swollen left hand — admitted to punching Dudney in the face.
Bonilla took the stand in his own defense at this week’s trial, testifying that the men had two prior encounters at the bar that night.
The first, he said, was when Dudney told him to order drinks farther down the bar, and the second was when Dudney was talking to Bonilla’s friend, causing Bonilla to pull the friend away.
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Bonilla and a restaurant bartender testified that Dudney then tapped him on the shoulder and said that if Bonilla had “something to get off your chest,” they could “take care of it in the bathroom.”
Bonilla testified that he believed Dudney wanted to fight, leading him to punch first.
Dudney’s sister-in-law testified at sentencing, reading letters from his parents, her brother and herself.
More time coming?
Bonilla has been serving a two-year sentence for possession of a gun as a convicted felon stemming from a May 2021 incident. (He was sentenced in that case 12 days after the bar fight).
Bonilla has four other felony convictions, including a 2016 charge of grand larceny in James City County; a 2018 charge of possessing ammunition by a felon in Newport News; and two felony probation violations out of James City.
He also has suspended prison time hanging over his headfrom the James City case. A May 10 hearing will determine whether any of that time should be imposed in light of the murder conviction.
Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com