NORFOLK, Va. — Chesapeake councilwoman and attorney Amanda Newins told a Norfolk jury Wednesday that her great-aunt Shirley Davis and great-uncle Bobby Davis practically raised her.
She reached for tissues when she spoke of her great-uncle walking her down the aisle at her wedding. She described how the couple moved in with her and her husband Brandon Newins during the pandemic.
"I would have done anything for my aunt and uncle. I loved them more than anything on earth," Amanda Newins said to a jury Wednesday. She said her and her husband had been trying to have kids but put it on hold because caring for her aunt and uncle was more important.
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Now the 31-year-old is standing trial accused of financially exploiting them.
Tuesday, Shirley Davis, now 83, detailed the events that eventually led the family to the courtroom.
She said Amanda and Brandon Newins regularly brought over groceries, took Shirley and Bobby Davis to appointments and helped each other.
Eventually, the elderly couple moved in with their great niece when "Bobby got bad," Shirley Davis testified. She said Bobby Davis would get lost, be unable to recognize her, and had bouts of paranoia.
Shirley Davis said the plan to move in with her great niece was so the Newins could fix up the home the Davises owned for nearly 50 years.
"I was under the impression I'd go back home," Shirley Davis testified. "But that didn't happen."
After the move, Bobby and Shirley Davis signed legal documents. In November 2020 they signed over power of attorney to Amanda Newins and, in spring 2021, they signed over the deed to the couple's Virginia Beach home.
"I trusted her," Shirley Davis testified speaking of Amanda Newins. A few months later she moved in with Amanda Newins's mother, who Amanda Newins had a strained relationship with.
Watch previous coverage: Chesapeake councilwoman on trial, accused of exploiting great-uncle with Alzheimer's
Wednesday a neurologist spoke of three appointments Bobby Davis had in the months before and after the deed to the home was signed.
During the first two appointments, the doctor determined Bobby Davis had dementia and prescribed medication and ordered additional medical tests. During the final appointment in March 2021, roughly one month after Amanda Newins took over the Virginia Beach home, a doctor diagnosed Bobby Davis with Alzheimer's. He died shortly after.
Prosecutors claimed that this series of events indicates Amanda Newins took advantage of Bobby Davis for her gain and she gained the couple's primary asset.
"Do you think you deserved that house?" Roanoke County Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney William Braxton asked Amanda Newins. "Did you think it was payment [for the care of Bobby and Shirley Davis]?"
He asked Amanda Newins to point out the provision in the couple's will that would give her the right, as power of attorney, to give herself a gift of this nature.
She said she was trying to fulfill the wishes of her aunt and uncle by keeping the home in the family. She said she thought repairing the home that had asbestos and roofing problems and reducing the Davises financial responsibilities could help Bobby Davis get better medical care.
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The point of taking over the house, she testified, was "to get it livable so we could all live there together."
The home is not the only asset prosecutors asked about.
Amanda Newins took roughly $94,000 out of her aunt's bank account after her uncle's funeral. She said she returned the money immediately when asked.
She said her reasoning was she believed her estranged mother was going to drain the accounts and Amanda Newins wanted to protect her aunt.
Braxton pressed Amanda Newins on what she knew of Bobby Davises medical appointments and declining memory.
She said she heard of and saw several instances where Bobby Davis had "nightmares" and "good and bad days," where he couldn't remember family members, where he was, or otherwise became, confused.
Amanda Newins said that she did not learn of an Alzheimer's diagnosis until after the deed to the home was signed.
Amanda and Brandon Newins both testified that Bobby Davis appeared to be normal at the time of signing of each legal document. They said they didn't notice any red flags and others in the room, including Shirley Davis who also signed the documents, did not stop or question the process.
At the time the deed was signed, a paralegal at the law firm where Amanda Newins worked testified she notarized the deed without witnessing the Davises sign the document, although that was illegal. She said she thought she was doing what was necessary because the community was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amanda Newins said after the Virginia Beach home was signed over to her, she took on the cost of home repairs, which she said was in line with plans she had discussed with her great-aunt and great-uncle.
Attorneys will present closing arguments Thursday. If convicted, Newins could see prison time.
A civil trial on the matter is set to take place later this year.
