Jury recommends Dominic Townes serve 42 years for Roanoke double murder

ROANOKE, Va. – The jury that found Dominic Townes guilty on all charges, including two counts of second-degree murder, recommended a sentence of 17 years for each murder.

Townes murdered Jacob Sallah and Travis Turnage in 2018.

The jury also recommended eight years on two firearms charges: using a firearm to commit murder and possession of a firearm by a violent felon.

This makes the jury's recommendation a total of 42 years in prison.

A judge will formally sentence Townes at a later date.

UPDATE

On Tuesday, a jury found Dominic Townes guilty on all charges.

This includes two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Jacob Sallah and Travis Turnage, who were both killed in Oct. 2018 in northwest Roanoke.

Townes was also convicted of weapons charges.

ORIGINAL STORY

The defense for a man accused of killing two people in northwest Roanoke last year said Monday that there's not enough evidence against him.

Dominic Townes is accused of killing two people inside a Hanover Ave house last October: Jacob Sallah and Travis Turnage. The prosecution is relying on a witness who heard the gunshots but didn't see them fired.

"I was flipping out. I didn't know what to do. There were two guns coming through my door," Larry Hodges said.

Hodges testified that he opened the door to the house and saw Townes standing there with two guns drawn. Townes then came inside. Hodges fled, so he only heard the gunshots and didn't see them fired.

Townes was in court Monday for day one of the trial, as were family and friends of the victims. Townes is facing two second-degree murder charges.

Some shocking details did come out. One victim was shot 17 times -- the other, 6.

Defense is arguing that Townes is innocent. They're emphasizing that no witness saw shooting, there's no DNA evidence and no weapons were recovered.

Police body camera footage of the crime scene was shown to the jury Monday in court.

The case will pick back up Tuesday morning. It could potentially last into Wednesday. 

Family members of the victims say they're still heartbroken and don't understand why it happened.