The man previously convicted of the homicide of Towan Cappell in Harrisonburg was convicted of assault and battery this week against a fellow inmate turned informant. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi attended the trial and filed this report.
As WMRA previously reported, 26-year-old Towan Cappell was found beaten to death in Harrisonburg in 2022. Aaron Gordon Jr. was charged with first degree murder and, in 2024, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the case, which was fraught with investigative failures.
Following a jury trial this week, Gordon was convicted of assault and battery in a connected case – but acquitted of the more serious charges of attempted first degree murder, strangulation, and obstruction of justice via witness tampering.
One of the unanswered questions in Cappell's killing is whether others were involved. DNA from two unknown men was found in Cappell's pulled-out pants pockets.
Before the murder case went to trial, another man incarcerated at the Rockingham Harrisonburg Regional Jail, named Promisemeh Zion Foreva, told authorities that Gordon had shared information about other people involved in his crime while the two were in the jail's medical unit. The following account comes from testimony from Foreva and law enforcement officers this week, and court records.
After contacting the commonwealth's attorney's office, Foreva testified before a multi-jurisdiction grand jury, and was identified as a possible witness for the 2024 murder trial.
Because Foreva and Gordon had the same court-appointed attorney, Louis Nagy – who has since become a judge – recused himself from representing either of them in March 2024. Foreva claimed this is when Gordon began threatening him. A "keep away," or separation order, was filed at the jail.
In July of that year, Gordon's new defense attorney, Gene Hart, called Foreva a "jailhouse snitch" during a preliminary hearing, saying Foreva had told law enforcement that Gordon admitted to killing Cappell at the instigation of another man, whose nickname is T-Mac. WMRA isn't disclosing his real name because he hasn't been identified as an official suspect in Cappell's murder.
Gordon was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in July 2024. Foreva did not testify in that trial because investigators said they couldn't verify his information. A week and a half later, in jail security camera footage, Gordon can be seen yelling through the doorway to Foreva's housing unit. The camera system does not record audio. Then, 10 days later, Gordon is allowed into the recreation area while Foreva is there, in violation of their keep away order.
The 40-second incident that followed led to this week's trial.
Security camera footage shows Gordon walk around the basketball court and back towards Foreva, who is standing by a wall. The men exchange a few words, then square up. Gordon – then 25 years old, five-foot-eight, and 150 pounds, throws the first punch. Foreva – 44 years old, five-foot-eleven, 220 pounds, and suffering from a shoulder injury, is quickly taken to the ground by the smaller Gordon, who gets Foreva in a chokehold similar to a jiu jitsu arm-in guillotine choke. Foreva taps the ground three separate times, but Gordon does not release him until corrections officers break up the fight.
Foreva claimed in court that he briefly lost consciousness during the fight, and was injured on his neck, face, and tongue – although he declined medical attention afterwards.
"You disgrace yourself by tapping out," he said, but explained he did so because he couldn't move or breathe.
A forensic nurse testified as an expert witness for the prosecution that the amount of force required to open a can of pop can completely restrict the carotid arteries, which can cause someone to lose consciousness in five to 10 seconds.
Gordon did not testify.
Neither side delved into the specifics of what information Foreva shared with authorities, although he did express concern about ending up in the federal prison system with other people Gordon "was affiliated with." By this time, T-Mac and three co-defendants were incarcerated elsewhere in the region, facing charges for the distribution of methamphetamine. One of these co-defendants was tested against the unidentified DNA samples found on Cappell and ruled out.
Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst did intercede for Foreva in his federal drug case, possibly helping to get his sentence reduced from 54 months to 36. Foreva was one of six co-defendants in that case, which revolved around meth and cocaine distribution in the Winchester area. The ringleader was represented by then-Federal Public Defender Abigail Thibeault, until she accepted the position of chief public defender for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. In this current role, she served as Gordon's defense attorney in the strangulation case.
In closing arguments on Wednesday, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Amanda Strecky said Foreva put his "life on the line" to provide information about someone charged with first degree murder. "I am imploring you to watch the video," she said. "Look at the force with which Mr. Gordon is punching."
Gordon's attorney, Thibeault, said Foreva was "the worst kind of snitch" who "will make up anything." She characterized Gordon's chokehold as a "perfectly reasonable way to defend himself" against a larger man.
The felony crime of strangulation requires that a perpetrator nonconsensually applies pressure to someone's neck, impeding their blood flow or respiration, causing bodily injury. The lesser misdemeanor of assault and battery requires that a perpetrator willfully touches someone without legal justification in an angry, rude, insulting, or vengeful way. The maximum sentence for assault and battery is one year.
After deliberating for over four hours, the jury found Gordon guilty of assault and battery, and not guilty of the other charges. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence for the voluntary manslaughter conviction.
