Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410030066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BOTTOMS BRIDGE - A tractor-trailer carrying municipal waste crashed into a CSX Corp. train at a Charles City County crossing Friday, killing the driver and derailing 21 empty coal cars, state police said.
Clarence Ellis, 27, of Barhamsville was killed instantly, said Mary Evans, a state police spokeswoman. The collision occurred about 3 p.m.
Ellis was heading south on Virginia 106 driving a truck carrying a container of waste that weighed about 20 tons, when he veered into the train, Evans said. The train, with 150 cars, was traveling west.
The crossing arms were down and lights were flashing at the time of the collision, Evans said. The train's two engines already had passed the crossing.
``The weather was clear, but he apparently could not stop in time,'' she said.
No one aboard the train was injured.
- Associated Press
Jury: 3 life terms for arson killer
ABINGDON - A jury that convicted Henry C. Davis of setting the fire that killed a mother and daughter four years ago has recommended he serve three life terms.
Davis, 30, of Damascus showed no emotion as the court clerk read the sentence Thursday. A judge will formally impose sentence after a background report is prepared.
The jury deliberated 11/2 hours before recommending the maximum sentence for arson and the slayings of Sherry Stamper, 30, and her 4-year-old daughter, Savannah.
On Wednesday, the jury found Davis guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson.
Prosecutors contended Davis set fire to the Stamper home in Konnarock because Sherry Stamper's husband had beaten up Davis' brother earlier in the day.
Another man has been convicted in the case and two others are awaiting trial.
- Associated Press
Va. man rescued after night at sea
PORTSMOUTH - A Virginia Beach man who was missing at sea overnight was rescued Friday off the North Carolina coast, the Coast Guard said.
John Grady, 42, had been reported overdue by his wife about 7 p.m. Thursday when he failed to return from a trip in his 28-foot boat, said Petty Officer Joe Dye of the Coast Guard's Fifth District public affairs office.
Grady was spotted in an emergency dinghy shortly after noon about 15 miles east of Corolla, N.C., by the research vessel Cape Hatteras, Dye said.
The Cape Hatteras is operated by the Duke University Marine Research Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C.
Grady was in reasonably good physical condition with some leg stiffness from spending the night in the dinghy, said Quentin Lewis, marine superintendent for the laboratory's oceanography department.
- Associated Press
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB