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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 31, 1994                   TAG: 9408010056
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                 LENGTH: Short

TEEN ACQUITTED IN POLICE KILLING

A man charged in the death of a police officer who was shot while posing as a pizza delivery man was found innocent of murder Friday by a circuit court jury.

Earl Antonio Coleman-Bey, 19, was found guilty of attempted robbery. The panel recommended a sentence of five years for the charge and three years for a related firearm count.

Jurors returned their verdict after both the prosecution and defense had explained that a guilty verdict on the robbery charge went hand in hand with a guilty verdict for murder.

Defense attorney Al Masters said he couldn't explain the verdict but was pleased with the results. ``You never know what a jury is going to do.''

Police officer Steven Rutherford was shot shortly before midnight Jan. 11 while posing as a pizza delivery man at a Denbigh apartment complex. The police arrested four teen-agers on murder charges, charging they planned and carried out the holdup together.

The first to go to trial, Antoine Speed, 18, was convicted last month of murder, attempted robbery and two related gun charges. Antonio D. Johnson, 19, and the alleged gunman, Nephus Stanley, 18, have yet to face trial.

Prosecutors alleged that Coleman-Bey, 19, acted as a lookout the night that Rutherford was killed.

by CNB