Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 4, 1993 TAG: 9309040067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A 13-year-old boy found the body of Mary S. Keeling slumped across the front seat of her car, which was parked on the 2500 block of Massachusetts Avenue Northwest. It appeared she had been sitting behind the wheel when she was shot in the side of the head.
The boy, who asked not to be identified, said he discovered the body about 7 a.m. Friday after hearing Keeling's car radio playing outside his home.
Police were called by neighbors after the terrified youngster ran to their house asking for help.
When police arrived, the car radio was playing but the engine was turned off.
There was no weapon in the car, but investigators found four spent shell casings from a pistol.
Authorities said the shots had come from close range.
Police made a tentative identification of Keeling's identity after finding a court subpoena in the car. Dr. David Oxley, the deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia, made positive identification from fingerprints.
Keeling lived in the 1100 block of Franklin Road Southwest. Her fingerprints were on file because she had been convicted of drug charges after city vice officers watched her and another teen-ager selling crack in November 1992 on Centre Avenue Northwest.
Chief M. David Hooper said a juvenile and domestic relations judge postponed sentencing Keeling on the condition that she obtain a general equivalency diploma and a full-time job. She was supposed to appear before the judge on Thursday but failed to show up. A bench warrant had been issued for her arrest.
Police have not established a motive for the killing and have not identified a suspect, Investigations Lt. W.J. Beason said.
The boy who discovered her body said he was watching the movie "Malcolm X" with his mother around 11 p.m. Thursday when he heard several "booms" that sounded like gunshots. At about the same time, he said it sounded as if someone rattled the back door of his house.
When his mother, who also asked not to be identified, left for her job as a baker at a grocery store about 1:30 a.m., she heard a radio playing in a car across the street. She paid it little attention and went on to work.
Just after daybreak, the teen-ager went to the back door where he and his mother heard the commotion Thursday night. He looked outside and saw that someone had spilled garbage over the back porch. And he heard the car radio playing out front.
He looked across the street and could see the blue shorts that Keeling was wearing through the driver's side window. At first, he thought she was sleeping.
He walked over to the car and stood about a foot away.
"Hey," he said. "Wake up. What's wrong."
The woman didn't answer.
Then he saw blood on the woman's head.
"My heart stopped," he said.
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB