Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290180
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK/ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge F.L. Hoback ruled there was probable cause to support charges of malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding and use of a firearm.
Hoback also ruled that the 17-year-old should be tried as an adult, but ordered that his name be withheld until the case reaches Circuit Court.
Charged in the same case is the man authorities say was his intended target - Judge Thomas Jr., a former football star turned drug addict who had vowed last year to turn his life around upon his release from jail on cocaine charges.
Thomas, 33, was indicted by a grand jury this month but remains a fugitive, Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony said.
Even though 4-year-old Moneka Small was hit by a single bullet, prosecutors have charged both the youth and Thomas with causing the injury. Because both men participated in the gunfight, prosecutors say, they should be held equally culpable.
Police also have charged both with attempted malicious wounding of each other.
Testimony Thursday showed that the girl was grazed in the head as she ran for safety when a gunfight broke out near the Hurt Park housing project.
Her mother, Neasia, testified that she, Moneka and her 3-year-old son were walking down Salem Avenue about 2:30 p.m. Feb. 4 when a passing car screeched to a halt. Of the three people who jumped out of the car, Small recognized one as a man she knew only as "Judge."
"He started fussing with someone across the street," Small said. The argument appeared to be over a woman.
The man then pulled a silver handgun. "That's when I started to run," Small said. As shots were fired, Small pushed her son to the ground. By then, Moneka had run ahead.
"She was so far in front of us that I screamed for her to turn around," Small testified. "When she did, that's when she got shot."
The bullet - one of at least 10 fired during the shootout - grazed Moneka from just below her eye to her temple. She since has undergone plastic surgery and is doing fine, her mother said.
No one who testified Thursday was able to identify the 17-year-old as the person who shot Moneka.
A woman who was visiting Hurt Park said she saw the youth shortly before the shooting started, wearing a long black coat and walking with a pit bull terrier. After going into "the pit" - a brick-wall enclosure at the project where trash cans are stored - the youth came out with a gun in his hand, the woman testified.
"He told someone that they didn't have enough ammo for him," the woman said.
The youth then began to fire in the direction of Small and her children. But the woman, who rushed inside, didn't see if he hit anything.
Last year, the 17-year-old was charged with attempted malicious wounding and other firearms charges in connection with a shooting at Valley View Mall that followed a fight at a video-game arcade. He was convicted on some of those charges, and others were taken under advisement.
by CNB