Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 11, 1994 TAG: 9411110056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The three - two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old - pleaded guilty to assault charges at a hearing Thursday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Teaster.
"It was outrageous," Teaster said of the beating. "These three people just walked up to this kid because they wanted to beat somebody up, and they started to pummel him.
"He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
The three youths, who are not being identified because of their age, will be sentenced in January. Teaster said he will ask that they serve time in a juvenile detention center "so that all three realize this is not something you do and just get probation for."
One of the three youths had been in detention up until Thursday's hearing, when substitute Judge John Molumphy released him on an outreach supervision program.
The attack happened about 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11, as a 17-year-old Patrick Henry High School senior was crossing the library front lawn near Jefferson Street after researching Mahatma Gandhi and nonviolence for a school project.
As the victim's 11-year-old sister stood nearby, the three assailants beat the student with their fists, leaving him with a concussion and facial bruises.
Because the student was unable to remember details about the beating, arrests were not made immediately. A break in the case came several weeks later, when one of the assailants - who apparently had broken his hand during the beating - was overheard boasting about the incident at school.
A teacher who overheard the conversation intervened and questioned the youth about the assault, Teaster said. A fourth youth, who observed the beating but did not strike the victim, was not charged.
by CNB