THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504200440
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Joshua Johnson and his girlfriend talked about killing her Salem High School classmate Joey Garcia, but decided they would just steal his car, Johnson told North Carolina police after the teenage couple were arrested in March and charged with murder.
Johnson's girlfriend, Kelly Dara, ``didn't want to kill'' Garcia, Kill Devil Hills police officer William Walker testified Wednesday at a preliminary hearing for Johnson. To appease Dara, Johnson promised he would only hit Garcia in the head, Walker testified.
``She didn't like that idea either,'' he testified. ``But she called and got (Garcia) there.''
Everything changed after Garcia arrived at Dara's house on March 6, Johnson told Walker. Garcia, 17, argued with Dara soon after his arrival and slammed her against a wall. So Johnson allegedly retaliated, picking up a pocketknife he found on a table and stabbing Garcia twice.
``I hit him,'' Johnson told the officer. ``Yeah. I hit him with the knife.''
After the stabbing, Johnson said, Garcia turned and hit him in the face. Then Johnson fled, throwing the knife in some bushes.
Juvenile Court Judge Ronald H. Marks certified charges of murder, attempted robbery and conspiracy to a Circuit Court grand jury after about an hour of testimony Wednesday. If Johnson is indicted in the stabbing death of Garcia, his trial is tentatively set for June 21. He is being held without bail.
A day after the killing of Garcia, Walker and two other North Carolina police officers arrested Johnson and Dara at the Ocean Reef Best Western Motel on North Carolina Route 12. Led to the motel by a tip from one of the couple's friends, the officers surrounded the room and knocked on the door. When no one answered, they used a master key, then kicked in the door to break a security chain.
Walker testified that Johnson later smoked cigarettes outside the Kill Devil Hills police headquarters and told him about many of the events surrounding Garcia's death.
After the discussion, Walker testified, Johnson decided he needed to talk with a lawyer. But in his next breath, he asked: ``How much trouble is Kelly in, since we planned it? I know it's premeditated for me.''
Johnson also told Walker that he and Dara planned to visit her grandmother, who lived in the area, before driving on to Florida.
Virginia Beach Detective Dennis Hebert also took the stand Wednesday, testifying that he found two packed suitcases and three backpacks in Dara's bedroom after the stabbing. Hebert said he also found expired Virginia license plates.
About a block from Dara's house, Hebert said, police found a kitchen-style steak knife with a wooden handle.
Johnson sat quietly during the hearing, his small frame barely filling his orange jail-issue jumpsuit. Dara, who is 18 but was 17 at the time Garcia died, will also be tried as an adult. Her trial is scheduled for June 19.
During a hearing for Dara earlier this month, a friend testified that Dara told him she intentionally started a fight with Garcia to get him to hit her.
Investigators first thought that Johnson, acting on his own, stabbed Garcia twice in the back. They thought Dara fled in panic.
But police said they learned that Dara had allegedly withdrawn money using a bank card stolen from her mother, and became more suspicious of her role.
At the time of his death, Garcia had been making plans to pick up a tuxedo for the Salem High School ring dance. He had aspired to a career as a Navy officer and had applied to the Naval Academy. Instead, police found the dying 17-year-old slumped in his burgundy Honda sedan March 6.
He had staggered to his car after the attack and drove about 100 feet before blacking out at Marmora Road and Gravenhurst Drive. He died soon afterward. ILLUSTRATION: Joshua Johnson, left, and his girlfriend, Kelly Dara, right, are
accused of killing her Salem High School classmate, Joey Garcia,
center, who had aspired to a career as a Navy officer.
KEYWORDS: JUVENILES GRAND JURY STABBING MURDER by CNB