THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250392
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 116 lines
Gloria Branton was a woman on a crusade.
For more than three months, she donned disguises and ventured into some of Portsmouth's most crime-plagued neighborhoods before tracking down the man she was convinced was her nephew's killer.
On Tuesday, she wept quietly as a jury convicted that man - Herbert Foster, 23 - of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison for the April 1995 shooting death of Earl Alexander Harris Jr. The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated little more than an hour in convicting him and less than an hour before imposing the sentence.
``I feel like (Earl) was there,'' Branton, 42, said after the trial. ``He won that fight today. But it was a long time coming.''
Homicide detectives who investigated the case credited Branton with playing a crucial role in solving Harris' execution-style murder.
``She took a stand as a member of the family and as a citizen,'' said Detective Melvin Hike. ``And it was a wake-up call for the community. She let them know that the next (victim) could be their daughter or son.''
On April 22, 1995, Harris was shot point-blank in the head as he walked to a convenience store near Washington Park.
Weeks earlier, Branton awakened from a nightmare in which she dreamed that Harris' brother, Shawn Rollins, had been shot and killed. She warned Rollins about her dream. But she later discovered that she had warned the wrong nephew.
For three months after Harris' murder, Branton left her comfortable Virginia Beach home each day for the unfamiliar streets of Portsmouth, sidling up to bums, winos, drug dealers and junkies, looking for her nephew's killer.
Some days, she wore disguises - a curly black wig, a large floppy hat, sunglasses, dark makeup. She used aliases like Lisa, Barbara and Dolores when canvassing Washington Park and nearby streets.
She tacked up posters offering a $1,000 reward to any witness who could give information leading to the killer's conviction. She sweetened the deal for one witness she found: She told him she would relocate him to Virginia Beach, find him a new job and pay his moving expenses and rent.
But the witness refused, saying many of his family members would still live in the same neighborhood as Harris' killer and he feared for their safety. Branton could not afford to move them all.
Her sleuthing helped police arrest Foster, but the charges were dropped during a preliminary hearing because witnesses were afraid to testify. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Robin Holley said that prosecutors later decided to renew murder charges against Foster after one witness agreed to testify in court.
``It's been tough getting witnesses to come forward in this case,'' Holley said.
Foster was convicted based largely on the testimony of the witness, a 39-year-old man who said he saw Foster shoot Harris. Prosecutors asked that the witness not be identified in news reports to protect his safety.
The witness had told prosecutors that he had received threats before the trial and was forced to leave his family's home and relocate several times, Holley said.
On Monday, the witness testified that while he was shooting dice with several people behind the Washington Park rental office, a man named Wilson spotted Harris walking by.
The witness said Wilson asked a friend to get a weapon. The man returned with a gun and gave it to Wilson. Wilson in turn gave the gun to Herbert Foster, the witness testified.
Foster ran up to Harris, a 25-year-old shipyard worker, and pointed the gun at Harris' head, saying, ``You thought that s--- was over.''
Harris begged several times, ``Come on man, why are you doing this?'' the witness testified.
Then Foster shot Harris once in the head, the witness said.
Foster left Harris on the ground bleeding, the witness said. As Harris lay dying in the 1400 block of Effingham Street, a man slipped through the crowd and rifled through his pockets.
``(Herbert Foster) took another young man's life,'' Holley told the jury in arguing for a life sentence. ``He only let him live 25 years.''
No one else has been charged in Harris' murder, but prosecutors did not rule out bringing charges against others involved in the slaying.
Foster's defense attorney, James Short, said that his client intends to appeal the jury's verdict.
``We had three witnesses - including one that said (the commonwealth's witness) wasn't even there,'' Short said.
Two defense witnesses testified that Foster was with them when the shooting took place. Another testified that the prosecution's key witness could not have seen who shot Harris because he was in Norfolk at the time.
Short asked the jury to consider that the sole witness for the commonwealth had received money before the trial from Harris' family and was seeking reward money. Branton said in an earlier interview that she had offered a reward to any witnesses who would agree to testify in the case.
Now that Branton's crusade has ended, she can mourn her nephew with the knowledge that justice has been served. Weeping for her nephew, as well as for Foster's family, Branton said she is still not sure her nightmare is over.
``It's like an old movie that someone rewinds that keeps playing over and over,'' Branton said. ``I see Earl. I see the night he was laying out there on Effingham Street.
``I often wonder what he was thinking - how did he feel at that moment?''
``It's a big relief, but it doesn't feel any better,'' she said outside the courtroom as she was escorted to her car by police.
``Nobody really won here.
``It was no victory for their family or ours. The hurt is always going to be there . . . It will never be behind us.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Every day for more than three months, Gloria Branton left her
Virginia Beach home for the unfamiliar
streets of Portsmouth, sidling up to bums, winos, drug dealers and
junkies, looking for her nephew's killer.
On April 22, 1995, Earl Alexander Harris Jr. was shot point-blank in
the head as he walked to a convenience store near Washington Park.
Color drawing by BETTY WELLS
It took the jury just over an hour to convict Herbert Foster,
center, of Harris' murder. Branton (far right) sat in the courtroom
during jury selection, but left the room during testimony because
she was a potential witness
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL CONVICTION by CNB