Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 7, 1994 TAG: 9406070108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE LENGTH: Medium
Charles Travis Shelor, 23, is the second man to face a drunken-driving-related murder charge in the Roanoke Valley this year.
He was arrested Monday when he turned himself in at the Botetourt County Jail following his indictment by a grand jury. He was released after posting a $20,000 bond.
Until this year, a murder charge seemed an unlikely option in drunken driving enforcement. Now, prosecutors appear to be testing the legal waters.
Last week, Michael Jacobs pleaded guilty in Roanoke to second-degree murder in the death of Brenda Jones. Prosecutors said his blood-alcohol content was more than two times the legal limit when he fell asleep on Roy L. Webber Highway and plowed into oncoming traffic and a car driven by Jones.
Jacobs had one previous DUI conviction. Prosecutors agreed to ask for no more than a nine-year sentence.
Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan initially is making no such concessions to Shelor, whose license was suspended at the time of the May 1 wreck that killed Brian W. Andrews. Shelor's license had been suspended for three years after he was convicted of driving under the influence for the second time in December 1992.
The grand jury indicted Shelor on two counts: murder and aggravated involuntary manslaughter. Hagan said he sought the second count in case the murder count fell through. The aggravated involuntary manslaughter count carries a 20-year maximum prison term.
To prove murder, Hagan must prove that Shelor acted with malice. In the Jacobs case, prosecutors argued that his previous experience with the court system and the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program - court-ordered rehabilitation for drunken drivers - should have put him on notice about the consequences of his actions.
Shelor attended the program following his first DUI conviction, after his car plowed into a house in Roanoke County in October 1990. It knocked down a wall of a bedroom where a 9-year-old girl had just gone to bed.
He is the first person in Botetourt County's history to face a murder charge in connection with a drunken driving accident. Shelor has denied that he was driving the car.
A second passenger, Kirk Lancaster, told Virginia State Police that Shelor was driving at high speed just past midnight on May 1 when the car ran off Virginia 606, struck several trees and overturned, court records show.
When Trooper S.T. Oliver arrived at the scene, he found Shelor inside the vehicle and Andrews partially ejected through the passenger window. Investigators have gathered hair samples from the windshield and possible blood samples from the passenger-door armrest to prove their case.
Keywords:
FATALITY NOTE: ABOVE
by CNB