Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-54.1 (2026)

Attempts to poison

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section VA-LISlaw.lis.virginia.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

If any person administers or attempts to administer any poison or destructive substance in food, drink, prescription or over-the-counter medicine, or otherwise, or poisons any spring, well, waterworks as defined in § 32.1-167, or reservoir of water with intent to kill or injure another person, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 felony.

Code 1950, § 18.1-64; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1983, c. 129; 2006, c. 300.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2002–2025 · leading case: Hughes v. Commonwealth, 573 S.E.2d 324 (Va. Ct. App. 2002).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Hughes v. Commonwealth, 573 S.E.2d 324 (Va. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “1, felonious poisoning in violation of § 18.2-54.1, adulteration of products in violation of § 18.”

Johnson v. Commonwealth, 561 S.E.2d 1 (Va. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “1 (murder of a pregnant woman requires “the intent to cause the involuntary termination of the woman’s pregnancy”), Code § 18.2-54.1 (poisoning food or water supplies “with intent to kill or injure another person”), Code § 18.”

D.L.G. v. Commonwealth, 724 S.E.2d 208 (Va. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 6× “(“appellant”), a juvenile, appeals from an order of the Circuit Court of the City of Hampton (“circuit court”), adjudicating him delinquent of attempting to poison his mother’s tea “with intent to kill or injure” her, in violation of Code § 18.2-54.1. Appellant asserts the…”

Blake v. Walmart Inc. (W.D. Va. 2025). · cites it 18× “In his Bowman claim, Blake alleges that Walmart wrongfully terminated him in violation of Virginia public policy, stating he “engaged in protected activity” when he notified the police and Walmart’s Ethics Hotline of the violations of Va. Code §§ 18.2-54.1, 18.2-54.2, and 18.”

DLG v. Com., 724 S.E.2d 208 (Va. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 6× “("appellant"), a juvenile, appeals from an order of the Circuit Court of the City of Hampton ("circuit court"), adjudicating him delinquent of attempting to poison his mother's tea "with intent to kill or injure" her, in violation of Code § 18.2-54.1. Appellant asserts the…”

Commonwealth v. Freeman, 80 Va. Cir. 554 (Norfolk Cir. Ct. 2010). · cites it 3× “2, and one count of maiming by driving while intoxicated, Va. Code § 18.2-54.1. The Commonwealth seeks to enter the results of the blood screen into evidence pursuant to Va.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.