VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — About a month after he allegedly killed a Southampton County mother, a 39-year-old man got into a hit-and-run crash while driving drunk, police say.
During both alleged crimes, he was driving his girlfriend’s 2015 Chevrolet Impala, according to court documents.
39-year-old James Herbert Goodwyn was arrested on June 27 and charged with the first-degree murder of Cynthia Carver.
Carver, a 34-year-old mother, disappeared from her Everett Street home after dropping her children off with the babysitter on Feb. 21. Her body was discovered in Suffolk in mid-March. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Carver died of “multiple sharp force injuries” and ruled her death a homicide in May.
While searching Carver’s home, deputies found “bloody drag marks” near her backdoor and on her driveway. The marks led police to believe that her body was put into a vehicle. Deputies also spoke with a neighbor who said they saw a silver car speed away from Carver’s home with “squealing tires” between 10:45 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. on the night the mother disappeared, according to court documents.
During an interview with investigators, Goodwyn said he went to Carver’s home around 10 p.m. the night she disappeared. He said he drove to Carver’s home in his girlfriend’s 2015 Chevrolet Impala, and that he remained in the car with the window rolled down for 10 minutes while he spoke with Carver outside of her house, court documents state.
About a month after Carver’s death — but before he was charged with killing her — Goodwyn was arrested in Virginia Beach following a hit-and-run crash that happened when he was allegedly driving the same 2015 Chevrolet Impala while drunk, according to court documents.
Goodwyn was allegedly driving drunk when he crashed into another car in the 5700 block of Lynnhaven Parkway on April 3. Police say he fled the scene, drove to his home in the 1900 block of Edna Way, and crashed into his own garage.
Police found three bottles of alcohol on the scene, and Goodwyn was arrested. When his blood alcohol level was tested, it measured 0.29 — more than three times the legal limit, according to court documents.
Goodwyn was originally granted a $5,000 bond in the drunk driving case; however, a Virginia Beach General District Court judge revoked that bond Tuesday. She said that the murder charge brought against him in Southampton County changed the circumstances of his pretrial release in Virginia Beach.