THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 11, 1996 TAG: 9606110320
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 83 lines
The case against the three people accused in the death of 3-year-old Taylor Ricks, who was slain by stray bullet on April 1, moved forward in court on Monday.
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge William P. Williams certified charges to the grand jury against two of the defendants, Ronald Cooke and Darrell Smith. The third, who was a juvenile at the time of the shooting, will be tried as an adult.
The hearing was to determine probable cause for the case to move to the grand jury, Commonwealth's Attorney Charles Griffith said.
Taylor Ricks was with her sisters on April 1 when she heard what she thought were fireworks. When she lifted the blinds to a second-floor bedroom window, she was hit in the head by a bullet from the nearby shoot-out. She died later that day.
The defendants turned themselves in to police the next day and were each charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of using a firearm in a felony.
``If ever there was a case about the horrible consequences of guns, this is the case,'' Williams said as he made his ruling.
Williams said there was enough evidence to hold the men over to be indicted by the grand jury next month. He added the juvenile was an active participant in the events that led to Taylor's death.
``He needs to be tried as an adult,'' Williams said.
Testimony on Monday began to fill in the picture of the events that led up to Taylor's death.
It appears that a dispute between people involved in a love triangle caused Taylor's death.
Cecil Manley, the intended victim of the shooting, testified he had had previous arguments with Smith for several months over a woman, who was Smith's former girlfriend. Each man had two children by the woman, who was currently his girlfriend, Manley said. He said he had had no quarrels with the other defendants.
Manley, 19, testified he was helping the woman move from her apartment in the 300 block of S. Main Street at about noon when the shooting began. He said he was carrying a box to a van when he looked toward a nearby alley and saw the three defendants holding firearms.
``All of them had weapons pointed at me,'' he said. ``I dropped the box and started running.
`` I didn't look back at anything,'' he said. ``I was just trying to get away.''
Manley said he evaded the gunmen and hid underneath an abandoned house. From there he heard more shooting and then screams. Someone was yelling ``My baby!''
Jack James, who works at Xeno Technix in the 300 block of S. Main Street, testified he was outside the business when he first heard gunshots. He then saw a man firing from a car traveling slowly down South Main.
Taylor's bedroom window overlooked an alley where several shots were fired. None of the men is admitting that he fired the fatal shot.
But Williams explained that Monday's hearing was only to determine whether a grand jury should consider indictments.
Williams ordered them remanded to jail without bond, stating that the defendants pose an ``extreme danger to the community.''
The grand jury indictment is scheduled for July 3. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN photos
The Virginian-Pilot
Ronald Cooke, left, is one of three defendants accused in the
shooting death of 3-year-old Taylor Ricks. A grand jury will decide
whether to indict him.
Darrell Smith and his co-defendants, one a juvenile at the time of
the shooting, were ordered jailed without bond. The judge said that
the defendants pose an ``extreme danger to the community.''
KEYWORDS: GRAND JURY SHOOTING by CNB