Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990 TAG: 9003280297
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Short
Ronnie Dale Tyree, 26, was found guilty by a Circuit Court jury in the death of Jill Marie West.
Tyree also was convicted of unlawfully shooting into an occupied vehicle, assault and battery in the wounding of 17-year-old Michael Banks and brandishing a firearm.
The jury gave a 15-year prison sentence.
Both Tyree and his wife, Lisa, testified during the two-day trial that a car driven by Banks hit their truck from behind when they stopped at a stop sign.
West, Michael Haythe and Lauri Crawford were passengers in Banks' car.
Banks, Haythe, Crawford and two police officers who examined the vehicles testified that the car did not strike the truck.
Tyree testified that his wife said the teen-agers in Banks car had a gun.
Tyree said he took a .22-caliber Magnum rifle from his truck and approached the car. He said he thought the weapon was unloaded.
Tyree testified that the rifle went off accidentally when he tapped on the window of the passenger's side of the car.
Broken glass and pieces of the bullet, which split on impact with the window, hit Banks in the face. Two fragments of the bullet struck West in the chest and the neck.
The jury concluded that Tyree intentionally shot into the car, but that West's death was an accident.
Judge Mosby G. Perrow III set formal sentencing for May 31.
by CNB