Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020105
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
Vera Alreda Goad, 56, died Sunday evening, shot as she knocked on a neighbor's door in the Willis community seeking help sometime after 10 p.m., police said.
Goad's daughter, Debbie Radford, said she had spoken to her mother just hours before the shooting, not long after Goad had returned from a trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., with her boyfriend.
Radford's mother told her daughter she had gifts for everybody. She also told her daughter she had broken off the relationship with her boyfriend. Hours later, Radford learned from the sheriff's office that her mother was dead.
"The guy that shot her and killed her, he doesn't know what he took away," Radford said.
Goad, born and raised in Floyd County, was the mother of three daughters and two sons and had six grandchildren. She worked as a private nurse - helping the elderly, Radford said.
"She was a wonderful, wonderful mother. We couldn't ask for a better mother. We thought she would always be with us."
Wesley Ray Sowers, 41, was being held in the Floyd County Jail on charges of murder and using a firearm to commit murder. His bond was set at $50,000 cash. He is to be arraigned this morning.
Floyd County and state police searched for Sowers for about an hour and a half after the shooting before learning that Sowers was at a residence a few miles from Goad's home.
"We received some information indicating he was at a residence at Route 730," said Bob Perry, acting special agent in charge with the Virginia State Police.
There were other people at the home and "we didn't know his mental state or anything," Perry said, so a state police tactical team headed to Floyd with its armored vehicle.
"They very quickly learned that it was family" in the house, Perry said.
"As it turned out, he surrendered before [the vehicle became necessary]. He turned himself in to someone he knew," Perry said.
Goad was shot more than once, but the lethal wound was to her chest, according to the medical examiner's office. Perry said the weapon was a handgun.
Gino Williams, Floyd County commonwealth's attorney, said a search warrant was executed Monday morning for Sowers' truck, but no weapon was recovered.
Deputies believe Goad ran to a neighbor's house after a man broke through her door, Williams said.
Sunday's slaying was the first in Floyd County since August 1993, when a woman was shot and killed by her husband. In a plea agreement reached last year, David Lewis Radford was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison for the death of Phyllis Phillips Radford. They are not related to Debbie Radford.
"You can see the O.J. [Simpson] trial - you can see the violence against women," Debbie Radford said. "Sometimes it never hits home until it hits home."
Goad's funeral is set for Thursday. Maberry Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB