Man guilty in 2009 stabbing death at Oceanfront

VIRGINIA BEACH

Darron Marques Cary went to the Oceanfront on May 28 looking for a fight.

He'd argued with his girlfriend and she'd kicked him out, prosecutors said. Before Cary left, he grabbed a Leatherman multi-tool.

"And he found somebody," prosecutor Julie L. Fink said. "He found Bryant Leary."

Cary and Leary got into a fight in front of a restaurant on 22nd Street, and Cary stabbed Leary, who had no weapon. Leary died three days later.

On Thursday, a jury convicted Cary, 23, of second-degree murder and recommended a 25-year prison sentence. Formal sentencing is set for May 26.

Public defender Aleasa D. Leonard had argued that Cary was afraid of Leary, who had a friend with him on the night of the stabbing.

"Darron saw him and went the other way," Leonard said about their initial encounter.

Cary had the tool with him because he was using it to fix his bike chain, she said.

The two had a history, according to court testimony.

Several months before the stabbing, Cary testified, Leary was part of a group that had robbed him at gunpoint. On another occasion, Cary testified, he had beaten Leary up.

Cary testified that on the night of the stabbing, he was scared of Leary and his friend, who were bigger than him. He first tried to avoid them, then ran into them again, and they had a confrontation, he said.

Leary, 20, swung at Cary first, hitting him in the face, according to court testimony. Then, Cary testified, he stabbed Leary.

Cary acknowledged that after the stabbing, he ran away and threw the tool on a rooftop. Leary died from one of four stab wounds, according to a medical examiner.

One of Leary's sisters, Barbara, testified that his family spent his 21st birthday at the graveyard, releasing balloons into the sky.