THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220605
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Terrance E. Taylor saw the two other teenagers when he approached the school-bus stop Monday morning. They nodded at him; he nodded back but stood apart from them.
At 7 a.m., when the bus pulled up in the 6200 block of Dunkirk St., Taylor was one of the first kids on. Suddenly, in the aisle, someone began pulling at his back and then clamped him in a headlock. Then he felt a blade piercing his back.
``I was more angry than anything else at first, just angry, but I didn't know I was stabbed bad,'' Taylor said. ``But then I saw all the blood coming out, and I just felt like the life was draining out of me.''
Taylor, 18, of the 6000 block of Campbell St., was taken to Maryview Medical Center with one stab wound to the back. He was in serious but stable condition Monday.
Two brothers, 15 and 17, were arrested at home and charged with malicious wounding. The two were taken to Tidewater Youth Detention Center, and will be arraigned today at Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Officers said one of the brothers held Taylor while the other stabbed him. The two fled, police said, and the driver radioed for help. A knife used in the attack was found in a wooded area near the pair's home.
Police did not identify the two suspects because of their age. All three teenagers are students at Churchland High School.
``This of course was a very unfortunate incident, and it was certainly a surprise to everybody,'' said Raymond A. Hale, school principal. ``From all that we have ascertained, these kids were friends - even the other kids on the bus said these kids usually get along fine together.
``Apparently it was something that started in the community over the weekend and spilled over to the bus stop.''
Taylor, a soft-spoken young man who plays basketball for the school, confirmed Hale's statement.
He and the two brothers had been close friends at one time, and were still on very good terms until Saturday. Then two of Taylor's friends got into a fight with the brothers.
Taylor said he saw the fight but did not participate, and he was not sure what the disagreement was about.
``I didn't really think too much about it afterward, because I wasn't really involved,'' Taylor said. ``I thought I was still cool with everybody, I really didn't think they had a beef with me, but I guess they did.''
Yvonne Taylor, his mother, said she was just getting off the night shift at a supermarket when her 16-year-old daughter called to tell her about the stabbing.
She sat in her living room Monday afternoon, still trying to understand all that had happened.
``I knew the boys who did it - not well - but they came over to the house a couple of times this summer to get Terrance and walk around the neighborhood or play basketball,'' she said.
She had heard about the squabble over the weekend but didn't take it seriously, she said, especially since her son hadn't seemed to let it bother him.
``I figure, kids are kids and sometimes they're going to fight. That's what kids do. But Terrance didn't seem to think there was anything for him to worry about, and I didn't worry either. Like I said, kids fight. But for them to go after him with a knife - that means they wanted to seriously hurt him,'' Yvonne Taylor said.
She pointed to the television, where a red, heart-shaped balloon on a white stick sat on a small, white vase.
``See that? Terrance brought that to me just last Thursday. No reason, he said he just wanted me to have it. That's how he is, a real good kid who's never been in any trouble,'' she said with a sad smile. ``Even with everything that's going on in the world today, I've never had any problem with Terrance - all he ever wants to do is play basketball.''
Terrance Taylor stills seems bewildered by the incident.
``I mean . . . I was there at the bus stop by myself. I wasn't even thinking about them, and I didn't think they were thinking about me,'' he said.
When Taylor was asked what he thought should happen to his one-time friends, he shook his head and snorted:
``I really don't care. I don't have time to think about that. I'm thinking about how fast I can get out of this hospital and back to the basketball court.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by PAUL AIKEN/
Terrance E. Taylor was in serious but stable condition at Maryview
Medical Center in Portsmouth after being stabbed Monday morning at
his bus stop.
KEYWORDS: STABBING ASSAULT JUVENILE MALICIOUS WOUNDING by CNB