THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 27, 1995 TAG: 9512270071
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
While Suffolk has seen a dramatic decrease in homicides this year - a total of four by late December, compared with an average of 11 the previous four years - there's a bizarre twist:
In three of those four deaths, brothers of the victims are charged with murder. The fourth homicide victim was a 2-year-old child whose 19-year-old baby sitter was charged.
``It's the first time we've ever had something like this,'' Suffolk police spokesman Mike Simpkins said of the brothers' slayings. ``It's bizarre. It makes you wonder about family values and morality. That seems like the root of the problem.''
Police in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake could recall no similar situation. Most family disputes that result in homicides, they said, involve spouses.
In two of the Suffolk cases, arguments turned deadly, court documents and police said. In at least one case, police said, drugs were a catalyst. Each homicide occurred in a different neighborhood.
Jimmy Lee White, 50, is charged with murder and use of a knife in the commission of a felony, in the death of David James White, 43. A jury trial is scheduled to start Jan. 31.
Wylie Holloman, 33, is charged with first-degree murder and using a firearm in the death of David Holloman, 24. His trial is to begin Feb. 15.
Prenell Randolph, 30, is charged with second-degree murder and using a firearm in the death of Wayne Terrell Randolph, 28. A preliminary hearing is scheduled May 7.
July 6: The house on the quiet farmland in the 1800 block of Cypress Chapel Road seems an unlikely scene for yellow tape designating a crime scene and chalk marks outlining the body of a homicide victim.
It's a simple country house with rickety wood floors and a porch. Most of the White clan lives here. They don't describe themselves as close-knit, but they agree that Jimmy Lee White and his younger brother, David James, never got along.
``Every weekend, they'd always fight,'' said their mother, Jeline White.
``I never had any trouble with them,'' said Johnny Mack, one of the men's brother. ``They'd get that stuff and get to drinking. They were fine during the week, but Friday, Saturday and Sunday . . .''
A coroner's report says that David White had traces of cocaine in his system at the time of his death.
The Whites and court records give this account of the evening's events:
After returning from an outing, Jimmy Lee and David began fighting about food on the stove and, later, about prison uniform numbers.
``They were arguing about who would end up in jail first,'' said Jeline White. ``Next thing I know, I saw blood flying.''
The men's mother and sister tried to break them up, but to no avail. Police say Jimmy Lee walked away and retrieved a 6-inch to 8-inch butcher knife from atop the freezer in his mother's bedroom, returned to the living room and stabbed his brother in the chest and shoulder. David James White stumbled into a chair on the porch and died moments later.
The grief has been practically unbearable for Jeline. Asked how she now deals with Jimmy, she stared numbly at a soap opera on the television as wood crackles in the stove.
``Sometimes, I don't want to deal with him. . . .'' she said softly. ``I reckon some treat him all right.''
For Jeraline, the men's sister, the hardest part has been explaining to her son that her brother is charged with killing his uncle. Unmarried, David left behind four daughters who are struggling to cope, the Whites said.
``Sometimes he gets up and thinks about David every day,'' said Jeraline of her son. ``He misses David a lot. I tell him he's gone.''
Sept. 2: A family friend describes Wylie ``Junie'' Holloman as a man whose moods are as wildly unpredictable as Hampton Roads weather.
But his younger brother David - with whom the friend attended John Yeates High School - was thoughtful and helpful to both his mother and neighbors on Ferry Point Road, said the woman. There were two other brothers.
She declined to have her name published due to the pending trial.
``David is the kind of person who jokes all the time,'' she said. ``He drank, but he was a sensible, nice, kind person. Junie seemed like he had a split personality, but David was always the same.''
The Holloman family declined to comment.
There had always been bad blood between the two, said the friend.
The two began arguing after Wylie made derogatory comments about their mother, the friend said. The fighting stopped momentarily, but then neighbors heard gunshots.
Police were called to the Holloman residence, in the 1800 block of Ferry Point Road, at 5:45 p.m. According to a police report, Wylie shot David in the right side with a 12-gauge shotgun. David Holloman died several days later at Louise Obici Memorial Hospital.
The brothers' mother ``asked me if I could forgive (Wylie) if I was in her situation,'' the friend said. ``I don't think I could. But she did. I say you can forgive, but you can never forget.''
Nov. 26: Wayne Terrell Randolph had had numerous brushes with the law, including charges of possessing cocaine, assault and battery and robbery, according to police and court records.
Friends and neighbors say Prenell Randolph got fed up with his brother's troubles, and their conflict escalated into a fight that turned deadly.
The Randolph family declined comment.
Prenell Randolph said, ``My family has been through a lot. . . . The family is trying to get on with our lives.''
Police responded to a call at 8:50 p.m. that Wayne Randolph had been shot and was lying in the front yard of the Randolph house in the 100 block of North Capitol St. in the Jericho community.
Police say Prenell Randolph shot his brother twice in the chest with a large-caliber handgun and left the area before officiers arrived. He turned himself in to police the next day.
A family friend and neighbor said environment and drugs had more to do with the dispute than any problem the brothers had getting along. He said the men's mother, Catherine Randolph, is a respected teacher; and their grandmother, Bessie Sharpe, is a well-known beautician in Suffolk. The family attends East End Baptist Church, the friend said.
``The church has done a good job rallying around the family,'' said the Rev. Mark A. Croston, East End pastor. ``They (church members) have really been trying to act as a sounding board for them.''
Croston said both men attended the church as youngsters but stopped as they became older.
``It wasn't Wayne as a person, it was the drug that made him do these things,'' said the friend. ``This thing hasn't only affected that one family; it's affected the whole community.''
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUFFOLK by CNB