ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996 TAG: 9605140064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER
DATELINE: FAIRFAX
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMO: shorter in metro
A 15-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a playmate will be tried as an adult, a judge ruled Monday.
Jason Garrison is accused of participating in the December death of Jonathan Hall. The 13-year-old's frozen body was discovered in a drainage pond near the neighborhood where he and the two suspects in his death lived.
The child was stabbed 51 times with a screwdriver and probably was alive when he was dumped into the pond, an autopsy showed.
Garrison will be tried July 8 in Fairfax County Circuit Court. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. If tried in juvenile court, Garrison faced incarceration only until his 21st birthday.
James A. ``Buck'' Murray also is charged with the Hall boy's death.
Murray, who has a long criminal record including a killing while he was imprisoned on another crime, lived on and off with Garrison and his mother.
Before sending the case to adult court, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Michael Valentine addressed Garrison.
``I feel very bad for you that you've been dealt the hand that you've been dealt,'' Valentine said. ``But I can't tell you we can make up for it.'' |- Associated Press
Hampton University
gets NASA grants
HAMPTON - Hampton University is set to get NASA grants of up to $100,000 per year for the next three years to help minority students, the agency announced Monday.
The money will go to help students who have been historically under-represented in science, engineering and related fields.
The Virginia college was among nine colleges nationwide selected for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration program.
The grants are aimed at traditionally black and minority colleges, as well as at universities whose student enrollment of under-represented minorities exceeds 50 percent. |- Associated Press
York River bridge
opens ahead of time
YORKTOWN - The new $103 million, four-lane span of the Coleman Bridge opened Monday, three days ahead of schedule.
Weekend thunderstorms set contractor Tidewater Construction Corp. back a couple of hours, but the lost time was quickly made up, and the bridge opened at 8:26 a.m., the state Department of Transportation said.
The bridge originally was scheduled to open at 6 a.m. Thursday.
Since the old two-lane bridge closed May 4, commuters who cross the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester County have had to take a detour of up to 75 miles through West Point.
``The public response was outstanding,'' said Julie R. Brown, VDOT resident engineer in Bowling Green. ``We had prepared for daily backups in the area of West Point. Except for a few brief periods, there were no major traffic difficulties on the Route 33 corridor.'' |- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB