Virginia: GOP’er Kevin Bailey Defended the ‘Worst’ Killer in Campbell County History

Kevin Bailey, an attorney and GOP candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, defended a meth-cooking murderer who was described as the “worst” killer in Campbell County history and was sentenced to life in prison, despite Bailey’s best efforts, for murdering his girlfriend by shooting her multiple times with a bow and arrow and attempting to behead her with a machete, before setting her house on fire and fleeing the scene.

Kevin Bailey defended Jonathan Edward Ayscue when he was charged with the November 2020 murder of Laura Allen. She was murdered after Ayscue, in a meth-fueled rage, accused her of cheating on him and initiated a stone-age-style attack on her, shooting her multiple times in the head and face with a bow and arrow before attempting to hack her head off with a machete.

Details of the crime, which are especially disturbing, were featured in a local media report:

…an arrow tip was pulled from the back of her head. Ayscue confessed to multiple arrow shots; he suspected Allen of cheating and fired the first arrow to get her attention while she was on the phone, (local prosecutor) McAndrews said.

Ayscue shot Allen in the side; she also was wounded in the face and he attempted to cut off her head with a machete, McAndrews has said in court. The house, which did not have electricity, was set ablaze when Ayscue knocked over a kerosene lamp, McAndrews said.

The presiding judge in the case described the homicide as the “worst first-degree murder I’ve ever seen.”

The local prosecutor seconded the judge’s description of the case, and even Kevin Bailey admitted to the local press that the murder was especially horrific, ranking near the top of his own list of brutal murders as well.

That didn’t stop Bailey, however, from excusing Ayscue’s actions, blaming his crime on a troublesome upbringing that made him an “angry person”, and seeking a reduced sentence.

Bailey claimed that, after giving a full confession to the “worst first-degree murder” in Campbell County history, Ayscue was “saddened about what he did to the person he probably cared about the most.”

Despite Bailey’s defense of Ayscue, he was convicted of both first-degree murder and arson, and in 2022, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder plus 20 years for the arson.

Now, in 2023, Kevin Bailey is seeking the GOP nomination for Delegate in the deep red 56th House of Delegates district, which stretches from Louisa to Appomattox.

In the district’s GOP nominating contest, Bailey faces former US Congressman Tom Garrett, and “political fundraiser” Jennie Wood.