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

DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994                   TAG: 9401230045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NUMBER OF DOMESTIC KILLINGS REACHED 5-YEAR HIGH IN 1993

Of the 11 people slain last year in Roanoke, seven were women.

Authorities say at least five were killed during arguments with boyfriends or estranged husbands - making 1993 the worst year for domestic-related killings in at least five years.

"It just shocks me that there have been so many," said Darlene Young, director of the Salvation Army's Turning Point, a shelter for battered women.

"I think it's getting worse," Young said, adding that admissions to the shelter have been growing by about 100 a year.

Even so, Roanoke's overall slaying count is down. Last year's total of 11 was the second-lowest since 1979, when there were nine homicides in the city.

Over the past 10 years, Roanoke has averaged 14.5 slayings a year. Domestic disputes usually account for several killings a year.

The weapon of choice for killers continued to be guns in 1993. Five of the slayings were committed with handguns. The others involved a variety of weapons, including a baseball bat, a pickup truck and a pillow.

Here is a list of the casualties:

Jan. 23: Percy Johnson, 17, was caught in a volley of gunfire after confronting a teen-age rival on Bridge Street Southwest. Dwayne C. Miller, an 18-year-old who said he opened fire because of the look in Johnson's eyes, is serving a 14-year prison sentence.

Feb. 9: Delphine Anderson was strangled to death and stuffed in a closet, where her daughter found her the next day at their Lincoln Terrace apartment. Walter Anderson, 37, who prosecutors said killed his estranged wife in a jealous rage because she was dating someone else, is serving a 40-year prison sentence.

March 2: Joseph T. Davis, 47, was shot to death with two guns at his Woodcrest Road home. His brother-in-law, Ricky Lynn O'Neil, is awaiting a trial in which he may raise an insanity defense, based on post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in the Vietnam War.

March 24: Ivory Williams, 29, was shot four times and left lying face-down on a sidewalk near Lansdowne public housing complex. Seventeen-year-old Corey Payne, who allegedly boasted about killing Williams over a drug debt, is serving 20 years in prison.

June 23: Pamela Gallagher, 38, was strangled during an argument at her Laburnum Avenue home. There have been no arrests, but police are focusing on a man she reportedly argued with that day.

July 27: Sandra Smith, a 43-year-old animal-control officer for Roanoke, was shot in her home as she talked to an old friend from elementary school. Her estranged husband, church deacon James T. Smith, became enraged when he found them, opening fire with a .357 Magnum. He was sentenced to 107 years in prison.

Aug. 6: Rebecca Sheppard, 25, died shortly after she was struck by a pickup truck as she stood in the yard of a Marshall Avenue home. Harold E. Gould, 36, faces charges of driving his pickup truck into the yard and striking Sheppard after an argument.

Sept. 3: Mary S. Keeling, 18, was shot five times in the head and left in her car as it sat idling on Massachusetts Avenue. There have been no arrests.

Oct. 18: Steven T. Johnson, 30, was stabbed to death during an attack by an acquaintance at an apartment on Westside Boulevard, authorities say. Eric Lee Patterson, a convicted bank robber who had been out of prison for less than a year, is awaiting trial.

Nov. 25: Teresa Darnell Tucker, 32, was smothered with a pillow at her Indian Village apartment. Her boyfriend, Albert E. Brown, 42, has told police he killed her because he did not approve of her drug and alcohol use, according to earlier testimony. He is awaiting trial.

Dec. 13: Judith D. Cook, 40, was stabbed in the back and hit in the head repeatedly with a baseball bat at her Windsor Avenue apartment. Her boyfriend, 26-year-old Michael Scott Hairston, is awaiting trial.

There was one slaying last year in Salem, an apparent murder-suicide, and one slaying in Roanoke County. So far this year, there have been no slayings in the Roanoke Valley.

Keywords:
YEAR 1993 ROMUR