Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 16, 1995 TAG: 9506160056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Goins' aunt, Paulette Goins Dickerson, told WWBT-TV that he had been taking a drug for asthma. Doctors at Medical College of Virginia Hospital told family members that Goins was on a respirator, Dickerson said. He was reported in stable condition.
The Richmond Sheriff's Office refused to comment on the nature of Goins' illness. Officers took Goins from the city jail to MCV's emergency room about 5:25 a.m. He was sluggish and unresponsive at the time, Lt. A.E. Roehm said.
Goins was under heavy guard, Roehm said. No other details would be released pending an investigation, he said.
Goins was convicted Tuesday of killing the parents and three siblings of a former girlfriend whom he had impregnated. Two other children, including the then-14-year-old girlfriend, were wounded in the shooting rampage.
Commonwealth's Attorney David M. Hicks said Thursday he had not had any reason to believe that Goins was a suicide risk.
A jury Wednesday recommended the death penalty for capital murder in the slaying of one of the victims, a 3-year-old boy. The jury also recommended Goins receive the maximum sentence of four life terms plus 73 years in prison for four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding and seven weapons charges.
Sentencing by Judge Thomas N. Nance is set for July 18.
Goins, 21, opened fire on the family in their apartment Oct. 14. All the dead were shot at least once in the head.
The girlfriend, Tamika Jones, was shot nine times but survived the attack. The 7-month-old fetus she was carrying died. Her 2-year-old sister, Kenya, also was wounded but survived. Goins killed Tamika's parents, Daphne Jones, 29, and James N. Randolph, 34, and her siblings, Nicole, 9, David, 4, and Robert, 3.
by CNB