THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020408
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
A man who fatally shot a fellow customer in a Food Lion checkout line during a dispute last spring was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday.
Despite family members' pleas for mercy, Michael Shane Mitchell, 22, was sentenced for the second-degree murder of George F. Fedon Jr., who was shot three times, once through the heart, on April 29.
``I never intended to hurt anyone,'' Mitchell said during the sentencing hearing. ``That's not the kind of person I am. I'm ready to take responsibility.''
After the verdict, Mitchell's grandfather, who gave him the Glock 9 mm handgun used in the murder, walked out of the courtroom with his head down. Earlier he had testified on behalf of the grandson he had helped raise.
``I'd give anything in the world if I could undo that act of giving him that gun,'' said Hugh W. Mitchell Jr. ``We're all so sorry for this tragedy. It's a terrible, terrible thing that's happened. We know there's punishment in order. We plead for mercy, beg for mercy.''
Mitchell shot Fedon, 44, after his beer was mistakenly rung up on Fedon's bill in the Food Lion in the 4200 block of Pleasant Valley Road. Fedon got Mitchell into a headlock, then Mitchell pulled the gun out of his pants, pressed it against Fedon's body and fired.
Mitchell fled, but shortly afterward, police overpowered him in a nearby patch of woods as he knelt, a gun pointed to his head.
``He wanted to kill himself because he felt it was an undisputed form of accepting responsibility,'' said defense attorney Troy Spencer. ``I was asking for 10 years. I was not surprised at getting 20 and don't quarrel with the verdict.''
Mitchell faced a possible 40 years for second-degree murder and three years for use of a firearm. He received the maximum on the firearms charge and 17 years on the murder charge.
Mitchell, of the 2400 block of Piney Bark Lane, had no criminal record, his attorney said. He had worked as a shirt-folder and shipper for an Oceanfront company.
Robert Mayette, a longtime friend of Fedon's, testified that Fedon was a devoted father and well-respected builder.
``He was honest and fair, Mr. Nice Guy,'' Mayette said. ``If I had to say something negative, he was probably too nice.''
KEYWORDS: SENTENCING SHOOTING FATALITY by CNB