Days before he shot a 34-year-old man to death in a grocery store, Brian Alexander Hicks believed he was God.
Hicks, 56, spoke gibberish to his neighbors in Woodbridge, Va., drove to Northern Virginia for a concert that didn’t exist and proposed to several women at a restaurant, police said.
That same weekend, on April 17, 2016, Hicks shot Gabriel Maness, a Providence Forge resident and Army veteran, several times in the head and body in aisle six at a Farm Fresh in Norge.
Hicks, an Air Force veteran, believed Maness, a father and husband, was going to engage in a criminal act, and he needed to stop him, psychologists testified in court Tuesday.
While Hicks “clearly” shot and killed Maness, a judge found him not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday in the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court. He was charged with second degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
“It’s a pretty senseless tragedy,” defense attorney Brandon Waltrip said. “Our hearts go out the Maness family…Unfortunately, there’s no way we can unwind the clock and change what happened, but I believe this is the appropriate legal outcome in our system.”
Hick was remanded to the custody of the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral and Mental Health for a psychiatric evaluation. He is scheduled to appear in circuit court again June 20 at 9 a.m. to decide what course of treatment is suitable for him.
All but the crime caught on tape
Over the course of the 8-hour bench trial Tuesday, in which Hicks did not testify, prosecutors relied on video evidence captured from the incident. From the moment both men arrived at the supermarket, nearly every action was caught on tape. But one key moment was out of view.
Hicks entered the Farm Fresh, located at 115 Norge Lane, around 8 a.m. April 17, a Sunday, according to police. Video surveillance played in court showed Maness getting a shopping cart and entering the grocery store, with Hicks following immediately behind him.
Minutes later, while out of view of the camera, Hicks shot Maness several times in the head and body, James City County Police Investigator Josh Drury said.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green played police body cam footage next, showing the first two responding officers locating Hicks and taking him into custody. Maness can be seen lying in a pool of blood in the background of the two officer’s videos.
A medical examiner’s report determined Maness died from a gunshot wound, Green said.
After police handcuffed Hicks, they escorted him away from Maness’ body and into the candy aisle, where they seated him on the floor, footage showed.
Maness’ wife, Kristy, cried as the videos played in court.
Green listed off evidence gathered from the Farm Fresh, including two bullets found by the medical examiner in Maness’ body, a bullet found in the meat case, a bullet in aisle ten, a spent round embedded in Maness’ shirt, two spent cartridges in aisle four, three spent cartridges in aisle five and a Colt handgun found between aisles five and six.
Abnormal behavior
After the shooting, Hicks did not display the demeanor of a man responsible for taking the life of another.
With the Farm Fresh security alarm blaring in the background and top 40 hits playing on the store’s speakers throughout the body cam footage, Hicks spoke with the officers “jovially” and “calmly,” abnormal behavior considering the situation, two psychologists testified.
In the days leading up to the shooting, several witnesses testified Hicks had changed drastically.
Witnesses from Hicks’ former workplace, private security contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in Springfield, Va., said he was always professional and a “normal employee.” In the week before the shooting in James City County, Hicks was inappropriate with fellow employees and proposed to women at a restaurant in his workplace the Friday before Maness was killed.
“He said he was searching for wives as prophesied end times,” employee Andrew Wright said, adding that Hicks referred to him as “Gabriel from the bible” until he told him his name was Andrew.
Following the incident at work, Booz Allen Hamilton hired private investigators to tail Hicks, Wright said. Hicks lost the private investigators Sunday morning, after being out for hours Saturday night.
Testimony in court revealed Hicks was on his way to Virginia Beach from Woodbridge to pick up a guitar, and stopped in James City County for a snack and bathroom break.
A history of mental illness
Hicks has a strong history of major periods of depression, and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features, Central State Hospital Psychologist Carla Galusha said.
Both doctors found Hicks insane at the time of the offense in several mental health evaluations done last year.
Galusha and Williamsburg psychologist Kevin McWilliams testified that Hicks also attempted suicide twice in 2015 and had been admitted to three psychiatric hospital since 2005.
Green argued that although Hicks suffers from severe mental health issues, he consciously knew and understood he had shot and killed a man.
Judge McGinty sided with Waltrip, however, stating that Hicks appeared to know what he had done, but believed what he had done was right.
Psychologists testified that Hicks acted collegial with the police officers when they arrested him, as if he was part of law enforcement himself.
“When people have this problem, they can decline really quickly,” McWilliams said. “In a very short time, they can destroy their life.”
Fearing may be reached at [email protected].
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