Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wilson, 20, of Roanoke, was indicted by a Roanoke grand jury on charges of murder, robbery, use of a firearm in both offenses, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Alfred Curtis Cunningham, 39, of Moorman Road Northwest was shot three times in the neck and back shortly after arriving at Hanover Avenue the night of Nov. 3, according to earlier police reports.
After spending 10 days in critical care at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Cunningham died from the gunshot wounds.
One of Cunningham's relatives has told police that on the night of the shooting, she and Cunningham drove to the 2300 block of Hanover Avenue to visit a cousin.
After getting out of his car about 9:40 p.m., Cunningman walked across the street and was approached by three men. The woman said she then heard gunshots and saw Cunningham fall to the ground as the three men fled.
At the time of his indictment by a grand jury in Roanoke Circuit Court, Wilson was being held in the city jail on a charge of violating his probation for an earlier drug charge.
According to court records, Wilson was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and was sentenced Nov. 23, 1993, to three years in prison. He was released Sept. 2 on discretionary parole.
Authorities later filed a motion to have probation revoked, citing Wilson's failure to follow instructions from his probation officer, his changing residences without permission, and his "violation of other conditions of his suspended sentence."
In his initiative to abolish parole in Virginia, Gov. George Allen has spoken often about offenders who commit violent acts after serving just a fraction of their sentences under the state's "liberal, lenient parole system." But as a first-time, nonviolent offender, Wilson likely would not have served a longer sentence under Allen's plan, which was approved this year by the General Assembly.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB