Grottoes, VA: Virginia Ware was shot dead Monday night outside this home, at 9712 Cloverdale Lane, in Grottoes.

Published: September 8, 2009

A man has been charged with the murder of a Grottoes woman Monday night.

John Franklin Myers, 44, is in custody on charges that he killed girlfriend Virginia Lynn Ware, 30, according to Rockingham County authorities.

Myers is charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Rockingham County deputies and detectives responded to 9712 Cloverdale Lane in the Blackrock Trailer Court at about 8:10 p.m., finding Ware dead in the gravel parking lot outside the mobile home, said Sgt. Felicia Glick of the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Myers had recently moved out of the home, where he and Ware often argued, leading the woman to fear for her life, neighbors told The News Virginian.

“She was really scared,“ said neighbor Jaynid Irizarry, 30, one of at least two witnesses who claimed to have watched Myers shoot Ware.

A search Myers began last night. At about 6:45 a.m., Myers turned himself into Augusta County authorities, Glick said. He is being held without bond at Rockingham Regional Jail in Harrisonburg.