
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991                   TAG: 9103290670
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Laurence Hammack
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BLOOD TESTS SHOW MAN KILLED BY POLICE HAD USED COCAINE

Laboratory tests show that Leonard A. Morris had used cocaine before stabbing a Roanoke police officer and rushing others at knife point in a confrontation that ended when police shot and killed him, authorities said Thursday.

A police spokesman said tests indicate Morris had cocaine in his bloodstream, but authorities were not sure how much he used or when. Further tests are expected to reveal those details, police said.

Authorities have said that Morris, 27, attempted to rape a Bedford County woman, then stabbed her more than 30 times and later became violent when police questioned him at his home about the incident early Saturday.

The woman, who is recovering at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, this week identified Morris as her assailant.

Police said the positive drug tests confirm her story that she and Morris had snorted cocaine together after she went home with him from a nightclub where they met.

The woman has told police that Morris became angry after she resisted his sexual advances. She fled the house but was chased for several blocks before being caught, stabbed repeatedly and apparently left for dead on a street corner.

Police have said that when they went to Morris' Southeast Roanoke home to question him, he stabbed one officer in the leg with a steak knife and charged two others - forcing police to draw their revolvers and fire.

The Roanoke NAACP has questioned the shooting and asked for a federal investigation. NAACP President Evangeline Jeffrey questioned why police shot Morris as many as nine times.

Police Chief M. David Hooper has said the shooting appears justified based on preliminary reports.

by CNB