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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 27, 1993                   TAG: 9303270196
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MOM CONVICTED IN ATTACK ON SON'S ACCUSER

The mother of a 17-year-old killer was convicted Thursday of attacking a man minutes after he testified against her son.

Mary J. Ingram pleaded guilty to assault and battery and received a 30-day suspended jail sentence and a $100 fine, according to Roanoke Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom.

The charge stemmed from an incident outside a city courtroom in November, when Ingram's son, Robert Ingram, was facing a murder charge.

Minutes after testifying that he saw Ingram shoot his friend in the head during a disputed drug deal - "It was just point-blank, cold murder" - witness Eric Swartz was attacked by a group of angry friends and family members as he left the courtroom.

Swartz was backed into a corner as he was punched, kicked and hit in the head with an umbrella. Mary Ingram was the only person charged in the incident.

She had faced a felony count of intimidating a witness, but the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor Thursday during a hearing in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Robert Ingram was convicted of the first-degree murder of Steven E. Wikle and is awaiting sentencing.

by CNB