THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411150323
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Dawn Kroboth rushed to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital after she heard a friend had been badly hurt by a hit-and-run driver outside the pool hall where she worked.
The Pockets Billiards & Cafe waitress and dozens of other employees and patrons flooded into the emergency room - but only family members were allowed to see the longtime pool hall regular.
``But you don't understand,'' Kroboth told an emergency room worker. ``We are family.''
Jason Sheets, 23, didn't survive. He was remembered Monday night with a friendly pool tournament that raised about $400 in donations for his family. He was also mourned by the eclectic family of employees and regulars who call the pool hall and bar in the Aragona Shopping Center a second home.
A banner over the pool tables Monday read: ``Farewell to our friend, Jason Sheets.''
Sheets, a Navy man who worked on the aircraft carrier Enterprise, will be buried today in Arlington.
``He was a good guy. I enjoyed hanging out with him,'' said Johnny Walker, a 22-year-old former shipmate of Sheets'.
Sheets, a father of two who lived in the 600 block of Masefield Drive, died two days after he was hit in the pool hall parking lot Nov. 6 by the car of another patron, who police and witnesses said tried to leave without paying a $13 bill.
Jeremy W. Byrd, 18, of the 4900 block of Westgrove Road, has been charged with murder. Employees said Byrd wasn't one of the regulars. He is being held without bond in the city jail.
According witnesses, employees and a search warrant affidavit written by homicide Detective J.T. Orr, this is what happened:
It was just before 10:30 p.m. when Byrd - with his girlfriend, Holly Thurston - walked out of the bar owing money. Doorman Chip Glock followed them to write down Byrd's license number.
Sheets joined Glock and others outside. Moments later Sheets was seriously injured after Byrd steered his car toward the group.
Byrd told police he was angry that the group had followed him outside and he wanted to scare them. He said he expected the pedestrians to jump aside.
After his car struck Sheets, Byrd sped away, police said. Hours later he confessed at the 3rd Precinct. Thurston, his girlfriend, said her lawyer told her not to discuss the incident.
Sheets had been expected to survive his injuries. He was visited by a parade of Pockets regulars and workers. Suddenly, however, his condition worsened.
``That was a shock,'' said Pockets Billiards & Cafe owner Donald Berger. ``We had hope, and then it was despair.''
Berger said a group of employees and patrons will drive to the funeral today.
Daytime bartender Betty Gee said Sheets would usually saddle up to the bar and rotate his ball cap backward when he ordered his first drink. Sheets called the gray-haired bartender ``Mom.''
``The day you met him is the day you became his friend,'' Gee said. ``We'll always love him. How do you talk about somebody who died over $13?'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Jason Sheets died at 23.
Photo<
Jeremy W. Byrd, 18.
Photo by JOHN C. BELL
Johnny Walker, 22, prepares for a shot in the pool tournament to
memorialize Jason Sheets, who was Walker's shipmate.
KEYWORDS: MURDER HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY by CNB