ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Several minutes after the end of a brief service marking the death of Alexander DeFilippis, a few people remained in Virginia Tech's Memorial Chapel.
Three had their heads bowed in prayer or meditation. A group of four talked quietly near the front.
Outside in the bitter cold, an unidentified young woman clutched the memorial program and mourned. Three friends surrounded her and offered comfort, then led her away. Other friends stopped briefly to share their memories of DeFilippis.
The 22-year-old Virginia Tech junior died last week after being shot three times in the head. He had been abducted from the Hethwood Xpress store off Prices Fork Road as he inspected his car tires while waiting on a friend who was inside the store.
The brief nondenominational service was sponsored by campus ministers. The service was designed to provide comfort, while recognizing that many of DeFilippis' friends had left campus last week after the shooting while others were studying for exams. A Roman Catholic memorial Mass is being planned for next semester.
About 90 students, faculty, staff and community members attended the service to reflect on DeFilippis' brief life and the impact his death has had on the community.
Those attending - including former roommates, Tech Police Chief Mike Jones and Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown - participated in a group reading of a meditation prayer.
"God of Justice, we are angry. Our hearts cry out for retribution. We want to know that the violence will be answered. We want to be assured that it won't happen again ... [W]e are hurting. Some of us knew Alexander and feel a deep, personal loss ... All of us are hurting from the loss of our sense of community and security," the mourners recited.
Tech student Brian Moffett remembered living on the same residence hall floor as DeFilippis a few years ago. He last saw his friend about a month ago.
Moffett said Monday's service was a helpful gesture.
"It was real nice that they did it because we didn't get a chance to go to the service up there," Saturday, when funeral services were held in DeFilippis' Northern Virginia hometown.
"He was one of the nicest guys I ever met. It's a shame," Moffett said.
DeFilippis was shot and killed in the Whitethorne community after being abducted from the Blacksburg convenience store. Giles County authorities later arrested three men and charged them with two counts each of armed robbery after convenience stores in Eggleston and Pembroke were robbed. Benjamin L. Lilly, 27; his brother, Mark Anthony Lilly, 20, both of Riner; and Gary Wayne Barker of Montgomery County were later charged with DeFilippis' abduction, robbery and capital murder.
Authorities said Monday that Ben Lilly was treated Sunday for a razor cut on his left forearm near the wrist area. Capt. O.P. Ramsey said Lilly received five stitches. The Sheriff's Office was reluctant to label it a suicide attempt.
"Evidently, they don't feel he is suicidal. ... It evidently wasn't a real good cut," Ramsey said.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. 1. The flag of the commonwealth wasby CNBflown at half-staff Monday as members of the Virginia Tech community
mourned the death of Alexander DeFilippis, who was killed last week
after his abduction from the parking lot of a Blacksburg convenience
store. 2. Mourners emerge from Virginia Tech's Memorial Chapel after
a Monday service for Alexander DeFilippis. color.