ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996               TAG: 9608130062
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-4  EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: FAIRFAX
SOURCE: Associated Press 

ARSON SUSPECT REJECTS MURDER PLEA DAUGHTER, 2, AND BOY, 5, DIED IN FIRE

A man accused of setting a fire that killed his daughter and another child changed his mind at the last moment Monday and refused to plead guilty to murder.

Charles Moore had agreed to plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths last November of Monique T. Moore, 2, and Darrion T. McCoy, 5.

While his attorney waved the signed plea statement in exasperation, Moore, 22, sat with arms akimbo and stared at Fairfax County Circuit Judge Bruce Bach.

``We will have a new trial date, and Charles will plead not guilty,'' attorney Patrick Anderson said after the brief court appearance.

The children died of smoke inhalation when Moore set a couch afire and then fled the apartment, police and prosecutors said.

Their mother, Tonjanika McCoy, testified earlier that Moore was angry because she had ended their four-year relationship.

McCoy, two other adults and another child escaped by crawling out a second-floor window. McCoy, 20, has testified that she tried to rescue the children but could not reach their bedroom because of the smoke.

LENGTH: Short :   35 lines
KEYWORDS: FATALITY