Suspect in teen’s slaying set for Nov. 6 arraignment

Published 1:46 pm Monday, November 4, 2024

A Newport News man accused of killing a Williamsburg teenager and leaving her body in Isle of Wight County last year is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 6.

An Isle of Wight County Circuit Court grand jury indicted 23-year-old Andarius McClelland on May 10 on a second-degree murder charge and a related charge of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. His arraignment following that indictment was originally scheduled for Oct. 16 but continued to Nov. 6 according to the online court docket.

On the latest hearing date, McClelland will have the opportunity to plead guilty, not guilty or no-contest.

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Asked what plea McClelland is expected to enter, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Edwards said the matter has not been resolved yet.

McClelland is accused of killing 18-year-old Aonesty Selby. When her family didn’t hear from Selby for two days, they headed across the James River Bridge the night of Jan. 13, 2023, to look for her by following location pings from Selby’s cellphone. They found her deceased on a dirt logging path nearly 4 miles outside the town of Windsor.

Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office investigators contend in court filings that Selby left her home at 1:18 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2023, for a date with McClelland, whom she knew as “Darius.” Court filings allege she received $30 from “Lucas Duke,” another alleged alias for McClelland, via a CashApp account, and used the money to hire an Uber driver to take her to an apartment McClelland shared with his brother, Andricus.

The car reportedly arrived at McClelland’s apartment roughly half an hour later. Andricus, according to the filings, told police that Andarius and Selby were both at the apartment the night of her disappearance, and that Andarius had asked to borrow Andricus’ 2021 Dodge Charger to give Selby a ride home. The car was seen at 10:47 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2023, leaving Isle of Wight and entering Newport News.

Andricus allegedly told police it had been returned to him covered in dirt.  Andricus also allegedly told police he’d discovered his Glock 9mm pistol missing from a nightstand drawer after Andarius left with Selby, and that when he confronted Andarius about the missing firearm, Andarius told him he’d “needed to get rid of the gun” and sold it.

On Jan. 16, 2023, the state medical examiner’s office in Norfolk determined Selby’s cause of death to be a single gunshot wound.

In March of last year, the court appointed a clinical psychologist to perform a competency and sanity evaluation at the request of McClelland’s public defender, Antoinette Bacon. A handwritten note in an Aug. 3, 2023, court filing asserted McClelland, as of that date, “remains incompetent.” Another handwritten note on a Feb. 1, 2024, filing now asserts McClelland now “is competent.”