NEWPORT NEWS
A Southampton County landowner, Charles E. Land was arrested on Tuesday and charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to multiple reports citing an arrest warrant obtained from the Newport News police department. The 24-year-old is believed to have been handling a firearm when it fired, killing his former girlfriend, 26-year-old Kristin L. Hambleton.

Police spokeswoman Holly McPherson said that Land was visiting Hambleton at her Newport News home on the morning of Jan. 31, when the incident occurred. She was pronounced dead when police arrived at the scene.

A firefighter, Land was arraigned at the Newport News Criminal District Court, but the case has since been transferred to the juvenile and domestic relations court because the pair have a child together. The arrest warrant shows that the child was not at the residence at the time of the incident, however.

Land, who owns land on Rosemont Road near Sedley, has been with the Newport News Fire Department since 2011. He has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, according to department spokesman Battalion Chief Stephen Pincus.

Hambleton, meanwhile, was a nurse at Riverside Regional Medical Center. She leaves behind an estranged husband, Joseph, and their four-year-old son.