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

DATE: SATURDAY, December 4, 1993                   TAG: 9312040230
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SISTERS MURDERED MOTHER

Two sisters, ages 12 and 13, and a 14-year-old boy convicted of killing the girls' mother have been sent to a juvenile detention center to serve sentences that can't exceed their 21st birthdays.

Rockingham County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Charles McNulty handed down the verdicts shortly before midnight Thursday, concluding the two-day trial, court officials said.

Marilyn Fries died Sept. 4 of multiple stab wounds to the neck and back. Sheriff Glenn Weatherholtz called the slaying one of the county's most vicious. The two sisters called 911 to report that their mother had been stabbed by an intruder and told police that they hid in a closet during the attack.

All three children were tried on murder charges as juveniles. Under state law, the trial was closed to the public, and those present in the courtroom were ordered not to reveal details of the proceedings, including the names of the defendants.

The three have been identified previously as Shawn Roadcap, 14, Stephanie Fries, 12, and Camellia Fries, 13. Roadcap was thought to be the boyfriend of one of the girls.

The three were sent to the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Detention Home in Staunton and ordered confined "for an indeterminate time" in the custody of the Department of Youth and Family Services, Commonwealth's Attorney Bruce Morris said.

Under state law, convicted juveniles cannot be held past their 21st birthday. The law prohibits those younger than 15 at the time of their alleged crime from being tried as adults.

Two of the children were found "not innocent" of first-degree murder, and the third was found "not innocent" of second-degree murder. Under state law, judges can find juvenile defendants either innocent or not innocent.

Morris said he could not say which defendant was convicted of the lesser charge.

Walter Green, attorney for one of the girls, said the conviction would be appealed.

John Holloran, the boy's attorney, said he will discuss a possible appeal with his client. Danita Alt, who represented the other girl, declined to comment.

After the stabbing, several classmates told The Associated Press that the girls had several times threatened to kill their mother, who had enrolled them in a private military academy for the upcoming school year.

Family friends said Fries had disciplinary problems with her children and worried that she could no longer control them.

by CNB