THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 14, 1994 TAG: 9407140711
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
It could have been an attempt at retribution - someone trying to save face after a public humiliation - that led to the death of Steven Smith and the wounding of three others.
But Smith, 19, had nothing to do with the earlier incident, witnesses said, and may have been trying to play peacemaker for a friend.
``They didn't want Steve, they wanted this other dude he hangs with because he punched one of them in the face Sunday,'' said a 16-year-old friend of Smith's who said he witnessed the shooting Tuesday night. ``Steve was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.''
Five young people, including Smith, were standing outside a friend's townhouse in the 4700 block of Marshall St. shortly before 10 p.m. when six young men walked up and shots were fired, police said.
Smith, who lived in the 700 block of 48th St., was shot behind the right ear and died at Sentara Hampton General Hospital.
Maurice Johnson, 14, of the 300 block of 48th St. was shot in the stomach and chest and was in critical condition Wednesday at Riverside Hospital.
Quentin Royal, 21, of the 700 block of 48th St., was in stable condition at Sentara Hampton General Hospital with gunshot wounds to his buttocks.
Allen Stones, 17, was treated at Sentara Hampton General and released.
It was the third multiple shooting in Hampton Roads in two weeks. On June 30, three men were wounded in a shootout in a gas station parking lot near Military Circle shopping center in Norfolk. On July 1, four people were killed at the Witchduck Inn in Virginia Beach.
All of Tuesday's victims lived in the Newsome Drive Townhouse Apartments, where the shootings took place. Witnesses spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, fearing the young gunmen would return.
The young man for whom the group of six was looking usually hung out with Smith and his friends, but was not with them Tuesday night, neighborhood residents said.
A 17-year-old, who identified himself as a cousin of that youth, said his relative feared for his life and was staying at home Wednesday.
``I can't believe all of this happened because he was stupid enough to get into it with some guy. Why'd he go start the fight? And now Steven's dead,'' the 17-year-old said as tears welled in his eyes.
Smith had known about the friction between his friend and the group of neighborhood toughs, and had offered to try to get the combatants together to talk about their differences, the 17-year-old said.
Smith's mother, Sandra Smith, said her son was well-known and well-liked in the neighborhood.
``He was real outgoing and very concerned about people around him. People who met him just really liked him,'' she said.
Steven Smith was a 1992 graduate of Ferguson High School and a former member of the Navy JROTC program, his mother said.
As she spoke Tuesday afternoon, two red-eyed teenage girls walked in the front door of the apartment and hesitantly approached her.
``I knew Steven, and I just wanted to say how sorry I am,'' one of the girls said.
``Thank you, honey,'' Sandra Smith said with a smile.
Around the corner, in front of the townhouse where Smith was killed, a skinny teenager with an oversized yellow T-shirt bent over the hot pavement. After a few minutes the youngster stood up, and he and three friends looked down. They all nodded approval.
In bright blue chalk the youngster had written on the pavement:
STEVE
``He's gone, and he ain't had to go,'' the yellow-shirted teen said. ``This is the last place I seen him. This is his spot.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Smith
Staff map
1 dead, 3 injured in shooting
For copy of map, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING ASSAULT
by CNB