Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501090072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NORFOLK - A judge has ruled that the man who killed the nephew of state Sen. Louise Lucas acted in self-defense.
Judge Thomas McNamara acquitted Marcus L. Moore on Friday in Norfolk Circuit Court of first-degree murder and a firearms charge.
Moore, 19, of Norfolk, was charged with killing Kevin A. Smith, 25, on Feb. 1.
Moore testified that Smith approached him, wielding the gun. Moore said he fired his 9mm gun six times. Four of the bullets struck Smith.
McNamara said there was not enough evidence to convict Moore.
- Associated Press
12-year-old guilty of manslaughter
WINCHESTER - A juvenile court judge on Friday convicted a 12-year-old girl of involuntary manslaughter for a car crash that killed two of her friends.
The girl faces a maximum sentence of commitment to the Department of Youth and Family Services, which can keep her in custody until she turns 21.
The girl apparently took the keys to her mother's boyfriend's car. She was driving her friends to her grandmother's house when she lost control of the car on a ramp. The car struck a guardrail and split in two.
Stephanie J. Steverson, 12, of Winchester, died at the scene. Brandi N. Martin, 14, also of Winchester, died at Winchester Medical Center.
- Associated Press
Parents found guilty of starving infant
VIRGINIA BEACH - Christopher N. Herrera left the hospital in late January 1994. One hundred six days later, someone called police to report a baby who looked like a concentration camp victim.
A Virginia Beach Circuit Court jury on Thursday convicted the infant's parents, Karen and Martin Herrera, of criminal neglect for starving the boy. The jury then recommended sentencing both parents to 106 days in jail and a $106 fine.
Karen Herrera, 20, sobbed on her husband's chest while the jury deliberated the verdict. But neither she nor 21-year-old Martin, who held her hands, showed any reaction as they heard the decisions.
After a witness reported Christopher's condition to police May 6, he was hospitalized. At 5 months old, he weighed 9 pounds, 6 1/2 ounces. The boy had a distended stomach, spindly limbs, visible ribs and buttocks that were no more than flat folds of skin.
Christopher was placed with a foster family after several weeks in the hospital, and his parents were charged.
- Associated Press
N.Y. man convicted of killing 2-year-old
CHARLOTTESVILLE - A New York man has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a 2-year-old who was hit by a stray round from a shootout in the apartment where she lived.
The Charlottesville Circuit Court jury on Friday recommended that Edward Jean-Baptiste of Brooklyn be sentenced to 10 years in prison. Jean-Baptiste, 21, had been charged with murder in the Jan. 8, 1994, death of Sharon Devon Tanner.
According to testimony, the toddler was hit by a stray round as Jean-Baptiste and two other men opened fire on each other in a bedroom of the apartment. The toddler was found in a hallway, shot through the heart and lung. The bullet that killed the child was never recovered.
Neil Christopher ``Paul'' Harvey, one of the three involved in the shootout, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and other charges, and was sentenced last month to 20 years in prison.
The case against the third man, Tamol ``T'' McIntosh, goes to a city grand jury next week.
Sentencing for Jean-Baptiste is set for late March.
- Associated Press
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.