THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080404
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 31 lines
A Circuit Court judge sentenced Royale Stewart Tuesday to life in prison without parole for killing Kevin Gallegos, a delivery truck driver who was shot outside a convenience store nearly two years ago.
Stewart, 18, was convicted last summer of capital murder, attempted robbery and two firearms charges. A jury had recommended the life sentence for Stewart, who could have received the death penalty.
Judge John E. Clarkson imposed the maximum 10 years for the attempted robbery and the mandatory eight years for the firearm charges. Stewart's attorneys plan to appeal.
In delivering the sentence, Clarkson called Stewart a danger to society and himself.
Stewart was 16 when he shot Gallegos in front of a 7-Eleven on Hampton Boulevard near the Old Dominion University campus in February 1995. He said the shooting was an accident.
At the sentencing, the slain man's father, Tom Gallegos, testified that Stewart took away the family's ``team.'' Malinda Gallegos, Kevin's widow, testified, ``I lost my best friend and my companion.''
Stewart recently pleaded guilty to bribery and accessory before the fact in a related murder case. He was accused of orchestrating a second murder from the Norfolk jail while awaiting trial during the summer of 1995. He was sentenced to five years in that case.
KEYWORDS: MURDER JUVENILE TEENAGER SHOOTING SENTENCE