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

DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995                   TAG: 9502200059
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN VIRGINIA

GROTTOES - Grottoes Police Chief Charles Lawhorne was in critical condition Saturday after being accidentally shot by one of his officers, authorities said.

Lawhorne, 47, was taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville by helicopter after being shot Friday about 9 p.m. at his home, said Rockingham County Sheriff Glenn Weatherholtz.

Lawhorne apparently was shot in the chest, the sheriff said.

Weatherholtz said the shooting took place in Lawhorne's family room. He said the gun involved was apparently an automatic pistol and that the incident was clearly an accident.

- Associated Press

Boyfriend denies child's sexual abuse

WINCHESTER - The live-in boyfriend of Valerie Smelser's mother said he did not sexually assault the 12-year-old girl and that he was unaware the child had been molested, the Northern Virginia Daily reported Saturday.

Valerie's nude body was found Jan. 23 in a Clarke County ravine, and authorities said late last week that an autopsy found semen in her rectal area.

Police have charged Norman Hoverter, 49, and Valerie's mother, Wanda, 42, with murder. Authorities took a blood sample last week from Hoverter to compare its DNA to that of the semen.

Hoverter said earlier he helped moved the girl's body but that he had nothing to do with her death.

- Associated Press