THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411160461
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Two 79-cent bottles of beer and a cashier's mistake sparked a scuffle between two men in a grocery checkout line in April. But it was the 9mm Glock one of the men had tucked inside his khaki shorts that escalated the fistfight into murder.
Tuesday, a judge found Michael Shane Mitchell, 22, guilty of second-degree murder for shooting George ``Skip'' Fedon three times, once through the heart, as they stood in the Food Lion checkout line April 29.
Fedon, 44, was angry because Mitchell's beer was mistakenly rung up on his bill, witnesses said. Fedon got Mitchell into a headlock, then Mitchell pulled the gun out of his pants, pressed it against Fedon's body and fired.
``What a waste of two human beings' lives because somebody had a gun,'' Circuit Judge A. Bonwill Shockley said before pronouncing the verdict. ``The defendant is the author of his fate. He went into the store with a gun. I can infer malice from the use of a weapon. He brought it on himself.''
Malice is required for a second-degree verdict. Shockley ruled that prosecutors failed to prove the premeditation required for first-degree murder, the initial charge.
Mitchell's grandfather, who helped raise him, gave his grandson the Glock as a 21st birthday present to help round out a gun collection the two had. Hugh W. Mitchell Jr., a retired public accountant, said he started the collection in World War II. He and his grandson often went target shooting together.
``I feel responsible for this whole thing,'' the grandfather told the judge. ``I wish I could take the blame. I gave it to him personally. I'd give anything in the world if I hadn't given him that gun. It's broken my heart.''
After hearing the verdict, Mitchell's large family huddled in small groups in the hallway outside the courtroom, hugging and crying softly. Down the hall, Fedon's daughter Charlene, 24, said she was satisfied and hoped for a longsentence.
``They were trying to make my father appear the bad guy,'' she said. ``It makes me angry.''
Mitchell faces up to 20 years on the murder charge and three years on a firearms charge. He will be sentenced in January.
``This was a no-win situation,'' said Mitchell's attorney, Troy Spencer. ``It's an indication of where guns have taken us. It was a tight call for the judge, but he walked into that store with a gun. That was impossible for us to overcome.''
Witnesses testified Tuesday that Mitchell got in line behind Fedon at the Food Lion in the 4200 block of Pleasant Valley Road at about 7 p.m., setting his two bottles of beer behind Fedon's Monterey Jack cheese and Doritos.
When the cashier mistakenly rang up the beer on Fedon's bill, Fedon became angry. According to witnesses, as the cashier profusely apologized, Mitchell touched Fedon and said jokingly, ``Hey, if you want to pay for my beer, that's OK.''
Witnesses said Fedon then cursed, though testimony varied as to the exact words. Some said Fedon threatened Mitchell. Others said he was just expressing anger over the mistake.
Fedon apparently made a move toward Mitchell and the two began to fight. Mitchell testified that Fedon elbowed him hard in the face, then put him in a headlock.
Mitchell said he doesn't remember pulling out the Glock and firing. One shot entered Fedon's thigh, traveling upward into his abdomen. Another went through his shoulder, shattering his shoulder blade. A third went through his heart and lung, killing him.
As Fedon fell backward, groaning, Mitchell ran from the store and wandered for nearly an hour through the residential yards near the intersection of Indian River Road and Lynnhaven Parkway, Mitchell told the judge.
Eventually, he walked into a convenience store, bought a large bottle of beer and tried to hitch a ride to a friend's house nearby. When police spotted him, he ran into a wooded area, dropped to his knees and held the Glock to his head.
Police ordered him to drop the gun, then sprayed him with pepper gas. Finally, they sneaked up behind him and disarmed and handcuffed him.
Mitchell, of the 2400 block of Piney Bark Lane, had no criminal record, his attorney said. He had worked as a shirt-folder and shipper for an Oceanfront screen-printing company.
Fedon, of the 4700 block of Greenlaw Drive, was a builder and developer. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
CHARLIE MEADS/Staff
Michael Shane Mitchell, 22, center, was found guilty of
second-degree murder for shooting 44-year-old George ``Skip'' Fedon
three times, once through the heart, as they stood in a Food Lion
checkout line in Virginia Beach on April 29.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING TRIAL VERDICT by CNB