Danville manslaughter conviction upheld

By Bernard Baker

Published: October 7, 2008

The Supreme Court of Virginia has upheld the manslaughter conviction of a Danville man who gave a friend a cough syrup component that ended up killing him.

Joshua Paul Coyle was convicted in November 2005 in the death of Glenn Sherman Thomas Jr., who was 17 at the time of his death. He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and other misdemeanor offenses in Danville Circuit Court. He had been free on an appeal bond before last week’s ruling.

Commonwealth’s Attorney William H. Fuller III said the conviction was boosted by Coyle’s deposition to Danville police. Fuller praised Officer Steve Richardson’s interrogation that aided the case by getting Coyle to admit that giving DXM to Thomas would kill him.

“He (Coyle) knew what the end result would be,” Fuller said. “In this specific case, he knew the potential harm and gave it to him anyway.”

Coyle told police during a Jan. 24 interrogation he got the DXM capsules from an online company in Indianapolis. He gave Thomas several capsules along with some Xanax earlier on the night he was questioned. Thomas died from an overdose.

The Court of Appeals of Virginia stated that Coyle knew Thomas could die if he ingested the drug.

“The record before us clearly supports the jury’s conclusion that appellant’s criminally negligent conduct was a proximate cause of Thomas’ death,” the Court of Appeals of Virginia wrote.

Fuller said there was evidence that someone else had gotten sick from the drug. He said DXM is a legal drug, but Thomas was given a fatal amount.

James Martin, the assistant commonwealth’s attorney who prosecuted the case, said the people who sold the drugs to Coyle are serving time in federal prison. He said DXM shipments from the Indiana company the men operated killed at least two people, including Thomas.

Contact Bernard Baker at or at (434) 791-7986.