Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 16, 1993 TAG: 9307160273
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
Newport News sheriff's deputies serving an eviction notice about 9 a.m. discovered the bodies of Kermit and Norma Norris on a bed in their home. Norma Norris had a .25-caliber handgun in her hand, police said.
In another bedroom, police found Anthony Norris, who had been shot once in the head. He was taken to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk, where he was listed in critical condition Thursday evening.
"It appears that the wife is the one responsible for the shooting of the little boy and the husband," said Lynn James of the Newport News Police Department.
Department of Veterans Affairs officials said they had granted Norma Norris, 46, a two-week extension on the eviction, setting Thursday as the deadline. Records indicated the family had not made a mortgage payment on the VA-backed loan in nearly two years.
"When everything has been exhausted and payments aren't going to be made, you're going to have to take some action," said Ozzie Garza, a public affairs official with the VA in Washington.
Garza said the VA had counseled the Norrises on their financial problems twice before but was prohibited by law from contacting them once they declared bankruptcy in 1991.
In an interview 1 1/2 years ago with the Daily Press of Newport News for a series of stories on problems with military mental health care, the Norrises said they were being financially drained trying to care for Anthony.
They said the child, whom they adopted when he was 3, suffered from severe emotional problems.
A next-door neighbor said the couple were well-liked and seemed happy and financially secure. Just last weekend, she said, Norma Norris had thrown a birthday party for her husband on the deck the Norrises had installed in their back yard this summer.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB