44-year-old Fieldale man charged with two counts of rape and two counts of forcible sodomy appears in court, two-day trial

MARTINSVILLE, Virginia — A man from Fieldale has been charged with two counts of rape and two counts of forced sodomy. The trial has started with a jury.

The two-day trial of 44-year-old Bobby Ronell Helms began Monday morning in Henry County Circuit Court. A jury of 14 people was chosen and sworn in. Judge Stacey Moreau was in charge.

A 20-year-old woman testified in Henry County General District Court a year ago that she and another woman were “riding around and hanging out” in Roanoke on Jan. 10, 2022, when they ended up in the parking lot of a Food City in Radford. This is what led to the charges against Helms being approved.

When a case involves sexual assault or something similar, the Martinsville Bulletin does not name the alleged victims. Since the case, the woman who testified has died.

A man named “Joe Joe” drove up to the two women in the parking lot. The woman said she used to date this man and owed him $2,000 from a past relationship.

The woman said that “Joe Joe” was Deshawn Kiree Tucker, who is 30 years old and from Pulaski. She said that after talking to Tucker, two women got out of their car and left with Tucker in his car.

She said, “He had made threats against my family, and I owed him money.” “He told me that we could do this the hard way or I could work it off.”

Tucker will stand trial in Radford Circuit Court on March 2 for kidnapping with the intent to defile and conspiracy to kidnap and defile.

The woman said that she was first brought to Floyd County, and the other woman went with them to make sure “I didn’t do something stupid.”

The woman said that Tucker gave them to Waylon Allen Cox, who is 37, and that Cox took them to his home on Frank Redd Road in Fieldale.

At the preliminary hearing, the woman said, “Joe Joe gave Waylon $2,000, and I told them I didn’t want to do this.”

At Cox’s preliminary hearing, the charges of sodomy and detaining a person were dropped. On Sept. 20, charges of detaining a person for prostitution and conspiracy to detain a person for prostitution were also dropped.

The woman said that she was taken from Cox’s house in Fieldale to Helms’ house on Sleeping Hills Farm Road.

At the trial on Monday, Henry County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Roxanne Reeves showed photos of what she said was the woman’s phone screen with the Life360 app open. Life360 is an app for smartphones that keeps track of where the phone is and is often used by families to stay in touch.

The app said it started following the phone in Dublin, then in Floyd, and finally in Henry County.

“Waylon Cox said he had weirdos who wanted to get high and hang out,” Michael McPheeters, Helms’ lawyer, said. “They both took some cocaine, and then they slept together. At some point, she felt disrespected, and she started to come down from her high.”

Henry County Deputy Matt Hodges said that the 911 Communications Center got a text from the woman’s phone at Helms’ house, and he responded to the “possible abduction.”

“When I got there, she was crying and her face was red,” Hodges said. “Helms pointed to the girls sitting on an air mattress on the floor and said, “There they are.””

Cpl. Michael Panos from Henry County also came, and the two women were put in the back of Hodges’ patrol car.

Panos could be heard telling the women, “Watch what you say, you’re being recorded,” on a video of the inside of the police car that was shown in court.

“What are you talking about?

” Panos was asked by McPheeters.

“I heard them talking, so I told them they were being taped,” Panos said.

Panos said that besides the two women. Helms’ son and another woman were already living there when he got there.

When Reeves asked Panos why he came, he said it was because he got a 911 text about a “possible abduction” and “someone being held hostage,” but when he got there, he heard Helms tell the women, “If you want to leave, get out.”

The next person to testify was investigator Evan Monroe. He said he was called to a “possible kidnapping and sexual assault.”

Monroe said that when he talked to the woman, she told him that she had been raped, so he took her to the sheriff’s office for more questions. After that, he said, he took her to the Carilion Hospital in Rocky Mount, where she was tested with a “forensic kit” and Helms’ DNA was found.

“She also denied using drugs, but tests at the hospital showed she had marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine in her system,” McPheeters said. “They got high and made love on their own terms.”

In Virginia, the maximum sentence for rape and forced sodomy is five years to life.