THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040391
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
A Virginia Beach teenager was sentenced Tuesday to 63 years in the May slaying of a local cab driver.
Alphonzo L. Dickson, 19, of the 1000 block of Bells Road, told Judge A. Bonwill Shockley during Tuesday's hearing he was remorseful about the first-degree murder of Eric Douglas Richter, 24, said Dickson's attorney, Nancy Kight.
Richter's family told the judge that they could never forgive Dickson for shooting Richter during an argument in the cab. The family played a personal tape that Richter sent to his family while he was overseas during Operation Desert Storm.
Shockley sentenced Dickson to 60 years for first-degree murder and three years for use of a firearm.
Evidence showed that Dickson got into Richter's cab at a gas station at the corner of Laskin and First Colonial roads about 2 a.m. May 11. Richter drove Dickson to the Bancroft Hall Apartments on Antietam Court.
The defendant was involved in a drug transaction, did not have money for the cab fare and pulled a gun, said the defendant's attorney. An argument resulted and Dickson shot Richter in the chest.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING TRIAL
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