THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100336
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS AND LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Officials in two states were searching Thursday night for an ex-convict wanted in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend and the wounding of her step-grandfather at a convenience store.
A national alert was issued for Richard S. ``Ricky'' Hogarth, 30, of the Elizabeth City area.
Hogarth, with an extensive record of assault, larceny and drug arrests, was last seen Wednesday night driving a stolen Acura in the Ocean View area of Norfolk.
``We're looking for him everywhere we can,'' Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright said about noon Thursday before leaving to check out possible contacts in Virginia. ``He has nothing to lose now, until he's in custody.''
Hogarth, considered armed and dangerous, is being sought on a warrant for first-degree murder.
Tracy Crafton, 24, was shot to death about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. She was killed in the parking lot of the Zoom-In gas station and convenience store on U.S. Route 17, a few miles north of Elizabeth City.
Her step-grandfather, 47-year-old Ron Revering of the 1200 block of Homestead Drive in Virginia Beach, was listed in intensive care at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Crafton, who lived with Hogarth - whom she had known for three weeks - was frightened of him and had asked her grandparents to come get her and take her back to Virginia, said her grandmother, Shirley Revering. Revering said Hogarth was abusive.
The Reverings had arranged to meet Hogarth and Crafton at the Zoom-In, about half a mile from Hogarth's house in the 3200 block of Main St. Extended.
When Crafton ran through the rain from Hogarth's truck to the Reverings' van, Shirley Revering said,the grandparents saw that she was covered with bruises.
``I said, `My God! What happened to you?' '' Revering said from her Virginia Beach home Thursday.
She said Hogarth then stuck his head inside the van, and Ron Revering asked him if he had beaten Crafton.
Shirley Revering said Hogarth replied, ``Yeah, I did it, and I'm going to kill you!''
Crafton was shot through the temple with a .380 semiautomatic handgun.
Ron Revering was shot twice, his wife said. He fell out of the van to the ground, where he was shot three more times. The gunman then fired again at Crafton.
Next, the gun swung toward Shirley Revering's head. ``He ran out of bullets,'' she said. ``I heard the gun snap and then he started to run.''
Revering, 60, jumped from the van to look for her husband. She knew her granddaughter had died instantly, she said.
Cartwright, the sheriff, said Hogarth apparently returned to his house after the shootings and then drove to Norfolk, where he confronted an acquaintance, Stephen Brock, in the 9400 block of Atlans St. in Ocean View about 11:15 p.m.
Police said Brock was robbed at gunpoint and his car stolen. Hogarth reportedly mentioned the shootings to Brock and said he was returning to North Carolina.
Brock, 43, was not injured. Police recovered Hogarth's red 1987 Chevy S-10 pickup from Brock's home.
Hogarth's criminal record dates to 1982 and includes several assault convictions in North Carolina and Florida.
One official speculated that Hogarth might head for Florida, where he has spent time in the past. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
A prison department identification card describes Richard S.
``Ricky'' Hogarth, shown in 1985, as white, 5 feet 9 inches tall,
about 140 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen
driving a dark gray, two-door 1989 Acura Legend with Virginia
license SPR-498.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING by CNB