ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
2 children convicted of beating tot
BOYDTON - Two of three children accused of severely beating a toddler because she refused to cry were found guilty in juvenile court and a third had charges sent to an adult court.
The attackers and the 3-year-old child who was beaten July 25 are relatives. Police said the victim was bitten repeatedly and beaten with hands and a belt, and finally lost consciousness when her head was slammed into a wall.
In a Mecklenburg County juvenile court Wednesday, a 13-year-old boy was found guilty of aggravated malicious wounding during a closed, two-hour hearing. An 11-year-old girl pleaded guilty to assault and battery. They will be sentenced Oct. 30.
An aggravated malicious wounding charge against a 16-year-old boy was transferred to Circuit Court, where a grand jury will take up the case Oct. 21. If he is indicted and tried as an adult, he faces 20 years to life in prison.
Authorities said the beating left the toddler paralyzed on her right side, and her speech is limited.
- Associated Press
Gang attacks girl, 14, police say
DALE CITY - Teen-agers jumped a 14-year-old schoolmate as she got off her school bus, breaking the girl's ribs and shoulder before fleeing, police said.
The mother of the injured girl said the attack was retaliation because the girl would not join a school gang.
Five attackers followed the bus from Gar-Field High School on Tuesday afternoon, then surrounded the girl when she got off at her stop, Prince William County police said.
As the bus driver and other children on the bus watched, the teens knocked the girl to the ground and beat and kicked her in the head and body, police said. She was treated at Potomac Hospital and released.
Three of the teens - a girl, 14, and boys ages 16 and 17 - were charged with felony assault on Wednesday.
The teen-agers, who are from Dale City, were charged with wounding with intent to maim by a mob. They were placed in the county's juvenile jail, police said.
Police said they are still trying to identify two other teens involved in the assault.
The bus driver decided to close the bus doors to protect other students, school officials said.
- Associated Press
Execution date set for police killer
HAMPTON - A judge has set an execution date for Thomas Lee Royal Jr., who was convicted of killing Hampton police officer Kenny Wallace in 1994.
Circuit Judge Walter Ford on Wednesday set a date of Nov. 26. However, a federal appeal probably will postpone the execution.
On Feb. 21, 1994, Royal recruited two accomplices to help him kill Hampton officer Curtis Cooper. They couldn't find Cooper, but they saw Wallace sitting in his squad car. Royal shot him with a .380-caliber pistol.
- Associated Press
Ex-counselor kills 1, then himself
PORTSMOUTH - A former counselor at a psychiatric treatment center killed a man in a dispute over money, then drove to the center where he held two people hostage before killing himself, police said.
The hostages were released unharmed early Wednesday before Timothy L. Gregory, 48, of Portsmouth, killed himself.
He kept dozens of officers at bay during nearly 12 hours of negotiations at The Pines Residential Treatment Center. He shot himself about 5:30 a.m..
Police said Gregory shot Fred D. Boone, 31, in an argument Tuesday over money and repairs Boone made to Gregory's car. Gregory then went to The Pines, where he had been an employee for three years.
Family members said he was upset over the way he had been treated while working at the center.
- Associated Press
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