ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996               TAG: 9604030012
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER

SUSPECT COULD FACE DEATH IN KILLING

Benjamin Lilly faces the possibility of the death penalty for the December shooting death of a Virginia Tech student who was carjacked as he waited outside a Blacksburg convenience store.

A Montgomery County grand jury on Monday returned indictments charging Lilly, 28, of Riner, with capital murder and eight other offenses.

The grand jury indicted his brother, Mark Anthony Lilly, 20, also of Riner, and Gary Wayne Barker, 19, of Merrimac, on eight charges each involving the DeFilippis carjacking-slaying.

But Mark Lilly and Barker face life sentences - not the death penalty.

That's because Virginia's "triggerman" statute stipulates that only the person who actually committed a homicide can face the death penalty. But codefendants can be charged as principals in the second degree to capital murder.

Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith said Ben Lilly could face life in prison or death. He said a decision had not been made yet whether to seek the death penalty. "If the law and the facts justify it, we will," Keith said.

Alexander V. DeFilippis, 22, was found dead Dec. 5, in Montgomery County's Whitethorne community. Authorities say statements given by Mark Lilly and Barker point to Ben Lilly as the one who fired the shots that killed DeFilippis.

Besides murder charges, Ben and Mark Lilly and Barker each face charges of abduction, robbery, carjacking and four counts of using a firearm to commit the four felonies. Ben Lilly also is charged with possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

All three men also face charges of robbing two Giles County convenience stores after DeFilippis was killed. A grand jury will consider those charges next week. Last month, a Floyd County grand jury returned indictments charging the trio with breaking into an Alum Ridge home the night before and stealing guns and other items.

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