THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997             TAG: 9701210251
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   40 lines

TRIAL IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN TODAY IN SLAYING OF GIRL HIT BY STRAY SHOT

The trial of the first defendant accused of murdering 3-year-old Taylor Ricks, who was shot in the head by a stray bullet last spring, is scheduled to begintoday in Norfolk Circuit Court.

Jermaine Bell, who was 17 at time of the killing, was charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of using a firearm.

Bell, of the 3100 block of Westminister Ave. in Chesterfield Heights, is one of three people accused in Taylor's death. The other two defendants, Ronald Cooke and Darrell Smith, are scheduled for trial in February.

The shooting happened in the 100 block of Hough St. in Berkley last April 1. Taylor was with her sisters when she heard what she thought were fireworks. The sounds were actually more than 15 gunshots.

When she lifted the blinds of a second-floor bedroom window, she was hit in the head by a bullet from the shootout. She died later that day.

After being pressured by outraged neighbors, the defendants turned themselves in to police the next day. Each was charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of using a firearm in a felony.

When the defendants' cases were being heard in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court last June, a judge said Bell was an active participant in the events that led to Taylor's death, ruling that he be tried as an adult.

Earlier court testimony indicated that the shootout involving the three men and the intended victim stemmed from an argument over a woman with whom two of the men had a relationship.

The intended victim was not charged in Taylor's death. Police said he was unarmed.

Taylor's bedroom window overlooked an alley where several shots were fired. None of the men admitted at the time that he fired the fatal shot. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

3-year-old Taylor Ricks was hit in the head by a stray bullet last

spring in Norfolk.

KEYWORDS: TRIAL SHOOTING MURDER JUVENILE STRAY BULLET