Boyfriend Sentenced For Murdering Fairfield Native

FAIRFIELD, CT — A former Connecticut man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering Fairfield native Dawn Meade in a domestic violence incident in Virginia in 2017, officials announced. A Louisa County judge on Monday upheld a jury’s recommended sentence of life in prison for Gregory Veres for a first-degree murder conviction, plus an additional 11 years for two other charges. A Louisa jury convicted Veres last December of first-degree murder and hit-and-run while recommending the maximum sentence under the law of life plus 10 years, officials said.

Meade, 40, was found dead by a neighbor on the morning of Sept. 22, 2017 in Virginia after a hit-and-run. Veres had been arguing with Meade over a restraining order before she separated from him and walked home, prosecutors said during the trial.

"The defendant hunted her down and drove all four wheels of his grandmother's car off the road and struck the victim going 60 mph," according to the news release. "The defendant struck her so hard the car's grill left an imprint on her leg. The defendant took the stand and testified it was an accident and suggested that he was too drunk to know what he was doing. The defense also called Richard McGarry, an expert witness, to opine the defendant's BAC would have been too high to know what he was doing. The Commonwealth called Dr. Jim Hutchings who works for the Department of Forensic Science, who refuted McGarry's claims."

In argument on Monday, Louisa Commonwealth's Attorney Rusty E. McGuire “pointed out to the judge that, contrary to the defendant’s claim that he was out searching for his girlfriend, Veres was in fact hunting for her,” according to the news release. McGuire “made clear that once the defendant found her, the vehicle being driven by Veres left the road completely at 60 miles per hour and struck the victim with sufficient force to knock her out of her shoes,” the release states.

“The Defendant killed his girlfriend and treated her worse than a dog,” McGuire said. “He killed her in the middle of the night and left her alone, dying, in the cold and dark on the side of the road.”

Regarding the life sentence imposed Monday, McGuire said that while nothing could bring the victim back, “justice has been done for her and her family.”

Meade had moved to Virginia to "better her life," her son Joseph Muratori wrote on a GoFundMe page that was created at the time to assist with funeral expenses.

"She began telling me what was happening," Muratori wrote in the post. "I begged my mother to come home. Well, on September 22 2017, my mother was killed by her abusive boyfriend. Anybody in any type of relationship that is abusive or know someone that is don't hesitate to reach out for help.

"Mom you were taken from us to soon. When the sun rises in the sky and sets beneath the shoreline, it shines your beauty on everything it touches. You will never really leave us. You are everywhere that is beautiful. You don't understand what I would give up or do to hear your voice one more time or give you the biggest hug of all time."

Photo via Go Fund Me / Go Fund Me is a Patch promotional partner.