THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310285
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
A teenager accused of stabbing a counselor to death in a Maryland home for troubled youths waived extradition in Virginia Beach Monday and was returned to Maryland to face murder and arson charges.
A Virginia Beach convenience store clerk alleged that he caught Benjamin S. Garris, 16, shoplifting candy and cigarettes. Garris was turned over to police.
After Garris was arrested, authorities realized that he was a suspect in the fatal stabbing Oct. 8 of Sharon Edwards, 28, a counselor at a group home that is part of the Sheppard-Pratt Hospital in Towson, Md. Garris was a resident of the group home.
Edwards was killed while working her first night shift in the cottage. Hospital security officers discovered a fire there early that morning and found Edwards' body as they doused the flames.
Garri,s of Frederick, Md., was the subject of a nationwide search. He now faces trial as an adult for first-degree murder and first-degree arson.
He was to appear for a bond hearing Monday night, according to Cpl. Kevin Novak, a spokesman for the Baltimore County Police Department.
Still missing Monday night was Jane DeCosta, 15, a former girlfriend of Garris who apparently was traveling with him. She is not wanted for any offense, but is listed as a runaway.
Garris was known to be fascinated by violence and may have been emulating characters in the film ``Natural Born Killers.'' Writings left at the crime scene and linked to Garris detailed plans for several crimes and included ``a description on how to kill people,'' according to arrest warrants.
It is unclear whether DeCosta was aware of the killing when the pair fled. Her family believes she probably is still in the area.
``It's horrible,'' her mother, Peggy DeCosta, said Monday in an interview from her home in Timonium, Md. ``We're just basically trying to get her safe.''
The two youths became friends in July at the Sheppard-Pratt Hospital, where they both were students, Peggy DeCosta said. Jane DeCosta attended day classes and Garris was a full-time resident.
``They didn't date,'' Peggy DeCosta said. ``She would come home talking about him. He was fun and cool.''
It seemed like typical teenage talk, Peggy DeCosta said.
``When we found she was missing, it didn't occur to us that she was with him until we started piecing it together with the police,'' she said.
Jane DeCosta, who uses the alias Heather Sexton, was described as white, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 120 pounds, with a shaved head, dark blue and torn overalls, a nose ring and three rings in her ears. She also has a tattoo of an ``A'' in a circle on one leg. ILLUSTRATION: Garris
KEYWORDS: EXTRADITION MURDER ARSON by CNB