
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990                   TAG: 9007200224
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Laurence hammack
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MURDER CHARGE CERTIFIED

A second-degree murder charge against a woman accused of fatally stabbing her live-in boyfriend was certified Thursday to a Roanoke grand jury.

Brenda Leatrice Baker, 21, is accused of killing Christopher V. Hunter, 28, the night of June 18 at the apartment they shared on Ferncliff Avenue Northwest.

Testimony at a preliminary hearing in Roanoke General District Court showed that Baker and Hunter were arguing when the dispute turned violent.

Hunter was stabbed three times in the chest as he attacked the woman, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Melvin Hill.

The couple apparently were arguing about a small child who had been left in Hunter's care but was abandoned. Baker is expected to claim self-defense when the case goes to trial in Circuit Court.

by CNB