DATE: Tuesday, September 30, 1997           TAG: 9709300243

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   33 lines

JURY TO START HEARING TESTIMONY IN MURDER CASE AGAINST TEENS

A jury of 10 women and four men was chosen on Monday and will begin hearing evidence today in the first-degree murder trial of two teen-agers accused in the shooting death of Kellam High School student Timothy Wheaton seven months ago.

James W. Waters, 19, and Monica Oliver, 17, face possible sentences of life in prison for their part in the drive-by shooting in Landstown Lakes on Jan. 25.

Prosecutors believe Waters was the triggerman and Oliver the driver when the shooting occurred.

Richard Ethan Hollingsworth, 18, was convicted in August of first-degree murder in the shooting. Hollingsworth was in the back seat of the car when Wheaton was killed.

The three teens were looking for another youth to seek revenge for a gang fight when they encountered Wheaton, a Kellam soccer star, and two other teen-agers, according to testimony during Hollingsworth's trial. Witnesses testified during that trial that Waters pointed a handgun at Wheaton and shot him.

The three picked up Stephanie Grace Wall, 17, and another youth and drove to Long Beach, N.C. They were arrested the next day.

Wall was sentenced in juvenile court earlier this year for her role in the incident. She is being held in juvenile custody, and may not be released until her 21st birthday.

Oliver's case was transferred from juvenile to adult court. KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL

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