THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270531
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 65 lines
Justice was difficult to find Thursday in Circuit Court.
Society has been unable to help families like that of Catherine Randolph - with one son dead and the other charged in the killing - Judge Westbrook J. Parker said.
``We've tried all sorts of programs to prevent people like Wayne from becoming people like Wayne,'' he said of the dead brother.
Prenell Randolph Jr., 31, admitted shooting his brother Wayne, 28, last fall in the front yard of the family home they had shared until the younger man was kicked out because of drug involvement.
But testimony painted Wayne Randolph as a drug addict who abused his family, stole from them to support his habits and provoked the shooting that killed him.
Prosecuting and defending attorneys - and Parker - agreed that circumstances leading to the Oct. 26 shooting were tragic.
``Legally, judge, we can't excuse what Prenell Randolph did,'' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney F. Jefferson James said. ``But I don't know what would serve justice in this case.''
James supported an agreement that allowed Randolph to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Parker accepted the agreement.
If convicted of first-degree murder, as originally charged, Randolph could have faced life in prison.
He is one of three Suffolk men convicted of killing a brother last year.
Wayne Randolph had intentionally provoked the shooting, James said.
Earlier, a charge of using a firearm during a felony had been nol prossed, or not prosecuted.
Court testimony showed that on the day of the shooting, Wayne Randolph came to his mother's home on North Capitol Street eight or nine times, each time becoming more belligerent, demanding money and becoming verbally abusive of his mother and grandmother.
``The next to last time he came, when I opened the door, he just pushed by me into the house, cursing, like in a rage,'' Catherine Randolph testified.
Finally, about 9 p.m., Prenell Randolph tried to intercede, going into the yard with a gun, hoping to scare off his brother, who was demanding $100 to pay for a gun he had gotten from a man who was with him.
But the younger man became more belligerent, cursing his family, throwing a quart beer bottle toward his grandmother and threatening to burn down the house. When he picked up the bottle again and started toward his brother, threatening to cut him, Prenell Randolph fired the handgun.
Prenell Randolph was described as a hard-working man who had had minor brushes with the law. He often relieved his mother to care for his father, who has Alzheimer's disease. And he had been a father figure to his brother's two children in addition to his own two.
``He is the man of the house, and he has assumed that role willingly,'' said defense attorney Kenneth Melvin.
``This is a young man who will suffer his entire life,'' Melvin said, in asking for no jail time.
Parker sentenced Randolph to 10 years in the penitentiary with all but 12 months in jail suspended. He could serve that on work release, said Parker, who said he hoped Randolph would be able to get back the job he had lost at Falcon Cable pending the outcome of the trial.
Parker also placed him on probation for an indeterminate period.
``An entire family is suffering because of drug addiction,'' Parker said.
KEYWORDS: MURDER FRATRICIDE TRIAL
VERDICT SENTENCING SHOOTING by CNB