Orange sheriff: Fight led to killing

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: August 18, 2008

About three hours after Orange deputies responded to a fight involving a group of people Saturday night in the Pierce Lane area, they returned to the same place, and this time a man had been killed.

The first homicide victim of 2008 in Orange County was Holland James Penton Jr., a 31-year-old who lived on Lahore Road, Sheriff Mark Amos said.
“The first this year,” he said. “Hopefully the last.”

After the initial fight broke up, with no charges filed because all involved refused to cooperate, neighbors Penton and Gary Joseph Delgross continued to argue from their yards, the sheriff said.
The argument escalated, according to the sheriff, when Penton grabbed an ax handle and approached the 54-year-old Delgross, who broke the handle. Penton then apparently picked up a stick the size of a broom handle and Delgross grabbed a 4-foot level from his truck. Delgross struck Penton, knocking him to the ground, and beat the man until he fell unconscious, according to Amos.

It is unclear what the men were fighting about, the sheriff said.
Deputies arrived on the scene about 2 a.m. Sunday and found Penton. Rescue personnel attempted to treat the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death.

“Alcohol was a factor,” Amos said of the fight.
Orange authorities later arrested Delgross at his Pierce Lane home and charged him with second-degree murder. He is being held at the Central Virginia Regional Jail without bond. If convicted, Delgross would face up to 40 years in prison.
The homicide also is the first since Amos took over as sheriff in August 2007.