THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100320
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Barry L. Etheridge - a teenager whose heroin-addict father abandoned him at birth and who grew to hate his crack-addict stepfather - was sentenced Monday to 68 years in the murder of a 14-year-old boy.
Etheridge, 17, has an extensive juvenile criminal record and a history of suicidal and homicidal impulses, a background his attorney cited in his plea for mercy.
But Judge Thomas S. Shadrick called Etheridge ``extremely dangerous'' and said he represents ``one of the most serious problems we have as a society - young kids that grow up with addicts as parents without guidance or direction.''
``This is the product of that irresponsible behavior, and we've got to do something about it,'' Shadrick said.
Etheridge seemed confused about the sentencing, telling the judge he didn't pull the trigger and therefore wasn't responsible for the death of Nicholas Lavar ``Nick'' Johnson, a student at Bayside Middle School.
``A robbery was planned, but not of him. Yeah, he dead. But we didn't plan it. It was a argument, yeah, that why he dead,'' Etheridge told the judge. ``I wanted to apologize to his mother. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. It was an out-of-spite thing. I'm sorry it happened.''
Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys, who asked the judge for a life sentence, responded to Etheridge: ``He's dead. You're alive and you're sorry. That about sums it up, doesn't it?''
Johnson, of the 600 block of Baker Road, died when he was shot through the heart in the second-floor landing of a building in the Carriage House Apartments on April 25. Rescue workers found him lying on his back, a lunch ticket in his pocket.
Etheridge's co-defendent, Corey Wilson, who allegedly pulled the trigger, is charged with capital murder and faces the death penalty if convicted. But it was Etheridge who targeted Johnson in the robbery and provoked an argument that led to the shooting.
Etheridge's attorney, Paul H. Ray, said Etheridge became suicidal and homicidal as a result of his father's abandonment and his stepfather's addiction. Etheridge was hospitalized at Eastern State to treat his suicidal impulses and his desire to kill his stepfather, Ray said.
``I hated him (my stepfather) 'cause he was stealing from the family,'' Etheridge said. ``I started taking my anger out on the street.''
Shadrick told Etheridge that he obviously did not understand the law under which he was convicted.
``You think if you don't pull the trigger, you're not guilty,'' Shadrick said. ``What you need to understand is that if you go out with your buddies looking to rob somebody and one of your buddies has a gun and your buddy shoots someone, there's a good chance you're just as guilty.''
Shadrick said he'd like to believe that if Etheridge had grown up in a different environment he could have become a productive member of society. ``At this point, the only thing he's got going for him is his age,'' the judge said. ``He's very, very young.''
Ray asked Shadrick for leniency, saying, ``It does society no good to maximize the sentence of a teenager.''
Shadrick gave Etheridge less than the maximum of life in prison: 55 years for first-degree murder, 10 years for robbery and three years for use of a firearm. The sentences will run consecutively for a total of 68 years. Under new probation and parole guidelines, authorities are reluctant to speculate on when defendants will be paroled. Anyone convicted of a crime after Jan. 1 and sentenced to prison will be ineligible for parole.
``You told your probation officer your goal in life is to chill out with your friends?'' prosecutor Humphreys asked Etheridge.
Etheridge responded, ``I'm locked up; what else can I do?'' ILLUSTRATION: Johnson
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING MURDER SENTENCING ROBBERY JUVENILE by CNB