ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702100025
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
The killer ran down a hill wearing a black ski mask and carrying a gun. "Do you know what time it is?" he yelled.
"Then he shot into the ground," Ronald Gray testified Friday. "I started taking stuff out of my pockets."
The killer fired three shots that night in December in the Lansdowne Park public housing development. Gray said the last round hit his 17-year-old cousin, Antwan Gray, and that during the shooting the killer ripped off his mask.
Ronald Gray recognized him.
"I could tell by the features on his face" that the killer was Stephone Jones, Gray said at Jones' preliminary hearing in Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Based on Gray's testimony and the account of another witness, a juvenile judge sent the capital murder case to next month's Roanoke grand jury. If the grand jury indicts him, Jones, who is 17, will be tried as an adult under a state law aimed at violent juvenile offenders.
Antwan Gray died the night of Dec.11 after he was shot once in the head. Investigators believe the killer was trying to rob Ronald Gray. Police charged Jones three days after the killing.
But could Ronald Gray really identify the man he saw in a split second, at night, in the middle of a shooting? That's the question that Jones' court-appointed lawyers hope will undermine the prosecution's case.
Under cross-examination by Thomas Blaylock, Gray admitted that his identification of Jones was, in part, based on what others had told him.
"It all happened so fast I couldn't really tell," Ronald Gray said, adding that he spoke with other witnesses that night who also identified Jones as the killer. But Gray couldn't remember the names of anyone he talked to. He did not tell police what he saw until several days after the killing.
Last month, Jones declined an unusual offer by prosecutors to waive his preliminary hearing. In exchange, Roanoke Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Teaster would have reduced Jones' capital murder charge to first-degree murder, eliminating the possibility of a death sentence.
At the time of the offer, Blaylock and co-counsel Greg Phillips had just been appointed to represent Jones. Blaylock said it was too early to relinquish his client's right to a preliminary hearing, which is the first time the defense is allowed to hear the prosecution's evidence and witnesses. Blaylock also questioned the prosecution's confidence of obtaining a capital murder conviction, since it was willing to make an offer so early in the case.
Jones is charged with capital murder in the commission of an attempted robbery, attempted robbery, use of a firearm during an attempted robbery, use of a firearm during a murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. He remains in Roanoke City Jail without bond.
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