Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Goins, who entered the Richmond Circuit courtroom laughing, nodded as Richmond Circuit Judge Thomas N. Nance imposed the death penalty for the Oct. 14 murder of Robert Jones in a public housing complex.
Nance also sentenced Goins, 21, to four life terms plus 73 years in prison on charges of first-degree murder, malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the murders of the four other family members and the wounding of two others.
Under state law, the death sentence automatically will be appealed.
Also slain were Robert's mother, Daphne Jones, 29; her boyfriend, James N. Randolph Jr., 34; and two of her other children, Nicole, 9, and David, 4.
Two of Jones' other children survived: Tamika, who was 14 at the time, and 18-month-old Kenya. Tamika was seven months pregnant with Goins' child when she was shot. The fetus died as a result of the shooting.
Tamika had testified that Goins shot her after she threw her body over Kenya to protect the toddler.
Prosecutors David M. Hicks and Claire G. Cardwell contended that Tamika's pregnancy was the motive for the killings.
A jury has recommended that Goins' girlfriend, Monique Littlejohn, serve 188 years in prison for being an accessory before the fact to the killings. Her sentencing is set for Aug. 9. Prosecutors said Littlejohn convinced Goins that Tamika and her child had to die.
Before Nance sentenced him, Goins disputed statements by clinical psychologist Evan S. Nelson that Goins had little in the way of family life and that he had bragged about his knowledge of the legal system.
``I do have a family. ... I was looking forward to getting married,'' Goins said, in an apparent reference to his relationship with Littlejohn.
His only comment to Nelson about the legal system was his belief that whatever he said in court wouldn't make any difference, Goins said.
Hicks said those comments and Nelson's report only emphasized the prosecution's view that the murders were ``a calculated act, a well-planned act, a coldblooded killing.''
Appeals probably will delay Goins' execution for at least five years, Hicks said.
Defense attorneys Robert N. Johnson and Susan D. Hansen said they have little to work with on appeal. Major issues in the case, such as a last-minute continuance and trial by jurors chosen from outside the city, were decided in Goins' favor before trial.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.