DATE: Tuesday, May 6, 1997                  TAG: 9705060238

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: SUFFOLK 

DATELINE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON,STAFF WRITER   LENGTH:   44 lines

TWO BROTHERS CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SUFFOLK

Two brothers, jailed since Friday on charges of shooting and injuring three people April 19, were charged Monday with the shooting death of a 24-year-old man.

Amar R. Skinner, 19, of the 1300 block of Sierra Drive, and Donta L. Skinner, 18, of the 1100 block of Cogic Square, were charged with murder and use of a firearm in a felony in the death Thursday night of Jeffrey Barnes.

Barnes was killed about 10:20 p.m. when gunfire erupted at the end of Davis Boulevard between two public housing complexes, where a group had gathered behind two parked school buses. Police said more than 20 shots were fired from at least two large-caliber, semi-automatic weapons.

One bullet struck Barnes in the abdomen, police said. He died soon after rescue officials took him to Obici Hospital.

No one else was injured, although another bullet went through a window of a nearby apartment and lodged in a wall near the ceiling.

After interviewing numerous residents of the Cypress Manor and Parker Riddick housing complexes, detectives obtained warrants Monday for the additional charges against the brothers. They are being held in Western Tidewater Regional Jail without bond.

Police said Thursday's shooting stemmed from an earlier argument between the Skinners and Barnes, who lived in the 1000 block of Blythewood Lane in Lake Kennedy Estates.

About four hours after Barnes was killed, police picked up Amar Skinner and Donta Skinner and arrested them on six felony charges each: Two counts of malicious wounding, two counts of throwing missiles at an occupied dwelling and two counts of using a firearm in a felony.

Those charges stemmed from an early-morning shooting outside a house in the 1100 block of Railroad Avenue.

Police said the men, who had been asked to leave the house, went to their nearby car, got semi-automatic handguns and began firing toward the house. Two men and a youth were struck, but their injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

A 27-year-old man was shot in the left thigh; a 17-year-old was shot in the left arm; and a 25-year-old man was shot in the lower leg, which was fractured by the impact, police said. KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING ARREST

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu