COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Bumgardner, Felton and Senior Judge Overton 

Argued at Chesapeake, Virginia 

DONYELL VONITIA SINGLETON 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 1432-02-1 JUDGE NELSON T. OVERTON 

 APRIL 1, 2003 

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 

 FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS 

Randolph T. West, Judge 

 Richard C. Kerns for appellant. 

 Kathleen B. Martin, Assistant Attorney 

General (Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General, 

on brief), for appellee. 

 Donyell Vonitia Singleton, appellant, was convicted of 

burglary, grand larceny, attempted murder, and assault and 

battery. Appellant challenges only his convictions for burglary 

and attempted murder and contends the evidence was insufficient to 

support these convictions. For the following reasons, we affirm 

appellant's convictions. 

 "On appeal, 'we review the evidence in the light most 

favorable to the Commonwealth, granting to it all reasonable 

inferences fairly deducible therefrom.'" Archer v. 

Commonwealth, 26 Va. App. 1, 11, 492 S.E.2d 826, 831 (1997) 

(citation omitted). So viewed, the evidence proved that 

 

* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not 

designated for publication.
Patricia Knight opened the "big door" at her home when she heard 

a knock. Appellant was at the door and asked for his dog. 

While Knight's daughter was getting the dog's food and medicine 

and bringing it downstairs, appellant "snatched" the locked 

screen door and popped the screen door open. Appellant entered 

the apartment and grabbed Knight's hair, put a black leash 

around her neck, and asked her if she thought she was cute. 

Knight told her daughter to run and get help. Appellant told 

Knight's daughter that if she left the house, he would kill 

Knight. Knight tried to reach for a bat she kept by her back 

door, but appellant "yoked" her back. Appellant pulled Knight 

back by the leash two or three times. Knight "felt like [her] 

eyes just popped out," and she could not breathe. Appellant had 

a knife in his hand, and "he had it up." The knife appellant 

possessed did not belong to Knight and did not come from 

Knight's home. They struggled, and Knight knew appellant was 

going to kill her if she did not do something. Knight was able 

to knock appellant off of her and onto the kitchen table. 

Appellant grabbed Knight's purse from the sofa and ran out the 

front door. 

 At trial, appellant claimed Knight opened the screen door 

to let him inside. Appellant claimed Knight came toward him 

with a knife in her hand. Appellant claimed he took the knife 

- 2 -
from Knight and told Knight's daughter she did not need to get 

help because he would not hurt Knight. 

 The fact finder believed the Commonwealth's evidence, and 

rejected appellant's evidence. "The credibility of the 

witnesses and the weight accorded the evidence are matters 

solely for the fact finder who has the opportunity to see and 

hear that evidence as it is presented." Sandoval v. 

Commonwealth, 20 Va. App. 133, 138, 455 S.E.2d 730, 732 (1995). 

The Commonwealth's evidence proved that appellant was armed with 

a knife when he entered Knight's home and that he attempted to 

kill Knight. The Commonwealth's evidence was competent, was not 

inherently incredible, and was sufficient to prove beyond a 

reasonable doubt that appellant committed burglary while armed 

and attempted murder. 

 For these reasons, appellant's convictions for burglary and 

attempted murder are affirmed. 

 Affirmed.

- 3 -