Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507310089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: F.J. GALLAGHER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Arrangements are incomplete at this moment," said Marla Beerbower, owner of Masters Funeral Home in Mannington. "We expect the body tomorrow, but a date for the burial has not been set."
John Young, who manages McGlaughlin Funeral Home in Bath County, took charge of the body of Jeffrey Ray Batson, 33, to prepare it for shipment after state police had completed an autopsy Saturday afternoon. Results of the analysis were not available.
The events leading to Batson's death behind the wheel of his mother's car began about 5:30 Friday evening, said Jim Ruhland, assistant state police agent in charge of the investigation.
Batson, reportedly an employee of Bacova Guild Ltd. in Hot Springs, apparently took the car from his mother, Lois Virginia Rucker of Hot Springs, at gunpoint. The Bath County Sheriff's Office put out an all points bulletin for Batson and the car; within two hours, a trucker called 911 on his cellular phone to report a reckless driver southbound on Interstate 81.
State troopers tried to stop Batson near the Troutville exit.
Batson refused to stop, Ruhland said, and led troopers on a chase that approached speeds of 100 mph before the car ran into the median, veered back onto the highway, then spun into the guardrail at the bottom of the I-81 Hollins exit.
When officers approached the car, Ruhland said, they found Batson slumped over the wheel with a .25-caliber pistol in his hand.
As they pulled him from the car, the officers saw that he was bleeding profusely from the head.
Batson was airlifted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:45 p.m.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB