Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9511020087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Henry County prosecutor Bob Bushnell said it was such an extraordinary case that he was moved to act accordingly.
On Oct. 25, sheriff's investigators found Lavina Scales' body off Virginia 679 in the Rock Hill community near Bassett. The 15-year-old had been shot eight times in the head with two handguns.
When a full-throttle investigation quickly turned up a suspect, Bushnell said he pushed for something that he's never pushed for before in his six years as Henry County commonwealth's attorney: the release of a juvenile's name to the public.
On Sunday night, two juvenile court judges were contacted and the necessary paperwork was signed.
Early Monday, the sheriff's office distributed press releases to the news media and put out a national alert to be on the lookout for Tommy L. Helms, 16, of the Bassett area, described as a fugitive who was considered dangerous. He was charged with the first-degree murder of Scales.
Late Monday night, Helms turned himself in to authorities.
"This is extraordinary around here, really," Bushnell said. "Never have I approached such an urgency of releasing a juvenile's name in the interest of public safety. And I have no regrets."
Helms was also charged Wednesday with shooting another man three times in an attempted robbery several weeks ago, Bushnell said.
Sheriff's investigators and Bushnell are trying to come to terms with the crime spree that Helms - a skinny boy with a thin, child-like face - is accused of. At a press conference Wednesday, investigators and Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell expressed their concern about children using guns.
Bushnell said he will seek to prosecute Helms as an adult on the murder charge.
Additional charges against Helms filed Wednesday include three robberies, an attempted robbery and malicious wounding involving the man shot three times, as well as five firearm violations. The incidents happened in the past few weeks, Bushnell said.
The three robberies were at two coin laundries - one on the south side of Martinsville and the other in Ridgeway.
The attempted robbery involved a man who was walking to a relative's house in the Ridgeway area. He had no money, but was shot twice in the leg and once in the hand. The man is recovering, Bushnell said.
Asked if he was familiar with Helms prior to the events of the past few weeks, Bushnell said: "I can't comment on that. I can't say that I was, and I can't say that I wasn't."
Bushnell and investigators say there are conflicting accounts of a motive for Scales' killing.
One story investigators have been told is that her killer was startled by noise behind him, turned and opened fire with the weapons - the victim just happening to get in the way, Bushnell said.
Investigators do know that Scales was shot and died where her body was found.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB