By Michelle James
A 73-year-old Bradley woman took the witness stand Friday in Raleigh County Magistrate Court, recalling the night her throat was slit, allegedly by her 21-year-old grandson.
Melba Burnette also testified in the preliminary hearing for Christopher Michael Burnette, 21, that he planned, along with her son, to throw her off the New River Gorge Bridge.
Both Christopher Burnette and his 47-year-old father, Michael Burnette, are charged with attempted murder, malicious wounding, conspiracy to commit a felony and kidnapping.
Magistrate Greg Tanner ruled after the hearing there was probable cause to send the case against Christopher Burnette to a Raleigh County grand jury.
Michael Burnette, meanwhile, waived his right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 days of his arrest. He does not yet have an attorney.
Melba Burnette said she had had a “ball” with her son and grandson on Dec. 1.
That night, however, she was not feeling well, and at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 2, she asked the two men to turn down their music.
She said her phone was out of order and she decided to walk three houses up to talk to her sister for a few minutes.
As she approached the doorway, she said, Christopher grabbed her from behind and sliced her throat.
“I said, ‘Christopher, you cut Grandma,’” she recalled, adding her grandson responded by saying, “‘I know I did.’”
She testified Christopher pulled her down to the floor and held her body against his, while a blank-faced Michael told her in a “psychotic” voice,” ‘You’ve got to be a good little girl. As we go along this life journey, you’ve got to be real easy ... ’”
When she pleaded, “Jesus, Jesus,” she said, Christopher told her, “‘Grandma, it won’t be long until you meet Him.’”
The men then allegedly carried her outside and placed her in the bed of her 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup truck.
She said Michael bound her hands with an electrical cord and the two men covered her with black plastic and said they were taking her to the New River Gorge Bridge.
As soon as she heard the two truck doors shut, indicating both men were inside the vehicle, she said, she began working her hands free.
“I said, ‘Lord, if you will just give me a chance,’” she recalled, explaining she had a plan to jump from the truck.
That chance came “about four minutes” later when the truck stopped at a traffic light in front of the Go-Mart at the intersection of U.S. 19 and Maple Fork Road.
She said she scooted her way out of the truck and ran inside the store, where employees called for help.
Although she testified she knew Michael and Christopher had been drinking beer that evening, she said she did not understand why they became so “angry.”
She said she had never had any problems with either her son or grandson, whom she referred to as “the love of my life.”
When asked by defense attorney Gary Frasher why she believed the men intended to throw her off the bridge, she responded, “Common sense would teach you, when they have your hands tied, they’re not going to take you for a boat ride.”
“I figured I was going to meet the Lord before long,” she said.
Also testifying Friday was Raleigh County sheriff’s Detective Cpl. J.C. Canaday, who recounted the search for and eventual arrest of the men, who were apprehended within hours on Appalachian Heights Road in Bradley.
Canaday said the men were belligerent, resisted arrest and had to be forcibly handcuffed on the ground because they refused to put their hands behind their backs.
A day after they were arrested, both Michael and Christopher Burnette, authorities said, were beaten by other inmates at Southern Regional Jail and hospitalized.
The two are being held on $1 million bonds.
— E-mail: mjames@register-herald.com
