THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050668
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
The former Norfolk State University student convicted in March of killing one former roommate and wounding another in their dormitory room was sentenced on Thursday to 68 years in prison.
Judge John E. Clarkson followed a jury's March 10 recommendation in formally sentencing 19-year-old Shamont Burrell of Richmond. The jury recommended 40 years for first-degree murder, eight years for two firearms charges, 10 years for malicious wounding and 10 years for conspiracy to commit malicious wounding.
Burrell and four other friends were accused of killing Gerard Edwards and wounding Ronald Richardson in their dorm room in the early hours of Jan. 18, 1994.
The shootings were over campus rivalries, police and prosecutors said.
On April 25, Christopher Skinner - one of Burrell's co-defendants - was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy and 12 months in jail for misdemeanor accessory after the fact. He was originally charged with murder and malicious wounding, but the charges were downgraded in a plea agreement made in exchange for his testimony against Burrell.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ASSAULT SHOOTING TRIAL
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