THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010284
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 75 lines
A murder charge against a 17-year-old girl implicated in the death of a Kellam High School student was dropped Friday as new details emerged on events leading up to the fatal shooting.
The commonwealth's attorney changed the murder charge to accessory after the fact, a misdemeanor, because Stephanie Grace Wall was not in the getaway car when Timothy M. Wheaton was killed Jan. 25, said her lawyer, Kathryn E. Fine.
But charges of attempted malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit malicious wounding were added against Wall stemming from another shooting a few hours before Wheaton was killed, Fine said.
Pamela Albert, assistant commonwealth's attorney, said there were no plans to change the charges or add new ones against other defendants ``at this time.''
William Wall, Stephanie's father, said that even though his daughter's problems are not over, he was thrilled at the commonwealth's decision.
``As I've been watching the news, I realized that it's hard for the general public in this country to believe that you're innocent until proven guilty,'' said Wall, a Navy engineer.
``It was even hard for me. When I looked at my daughter on television and in the newspaper, a part of me said, `Whoa, here are four killers,' even though it wasn't proven. What they did today made me feel good.
``We have stressed to our daughter all along to tell the truth. We've told all our kids that. But being kids, they don't always. But when it gets right down to the nitty-gritty, I believe they will. The truth will come out on this. Part of it already has, seems like.''
Wall, 44, said the experience, like that of other families in the unfolding story, has been painful.
``This is the first time she's ever been in jail,'' he said, ``the first time she's ever done anything bad, really.''
No one was hurt in the earlier shooting. It was reported at 6:32 p.m. at Blackstone Trail and Fawkes Court in Magic Hollow, a short drive from the spot on Barberry Drive where Wheaton was shot shortly after 7 p.m.
The intended victim of the first shooting was a 15-year-old boy.
While the motive for the first shooting remains unclear, defense attorneys have said it apparently was in retaliation for a beating of an unidentified juvenile at the hands of still other, unidentified teen-agers earlier in the week.
Defense attorneys for two defendants said the beating started a chain of events that led to both shootings.
James W. Waters Jr., 19, who is charged with murder and using a gun to commit a felony, said in an interview Monday that he went to visit the boy who was beaten because he was an acquaintance.
``He was jumped, and I wanted to see how he was doing,'' Waters said of his visit, which he said took place about 5 p.m. It was not clear who accompanied Waters during his visit.
The other two defendants in the Wheaton killing are Monica Oliver, 17, and Richard Ethan Hollingsworth, 18. Both are charged with murder. All defendants are being held without bond in the Virginia Beach City Jail. But Fine said she will ask the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Monday to move Wall to the Tidewater Psychiatric Institute because of her deteriorating mental state.
``She is on a suicide watch,'' Fine said. ``She is very frail. She is not taking her medication, and I do not believe that her medical needs can be addressed in the jail.''
Given that Wall is charged in connection with the first shooting but apparently had no direct involvement in the second, it was unclear at what point she got out of the car, a burgundy Dodge Shadow.
The car identified in the first shooting was the same car later identified at the scene of the Wheaton murder, police said.
Although four teen-agers were arrested in a Long Beach, N.C., cottage, ``it is my understanding that there were only three people in the car at the time of the murder,'' said Moody E. Stallings Jr., Hollingsworth's attorney. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Stephanie Grace Wall
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING