THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 22, 1995 TAG: 9506220456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
To the end, Reginald Evans blamed everyone but himself for the April 1994 capital murder of taxi driver Donald J. Reynolds.
A judge refused to buy the excuses - and on Wednesday sentenced the 17-year-old to life behind bars.
``You shot the victim five times. . . afterwards, your only concern was whether your co-defendant paid back a $5 loan,'' said Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston. ``It is the hope of this court that you never walk the streets of this Commonwealth as a free man again.''
Then Poston sentenced Evans to the maximum possible term - life plus 28 years in prison. Poston gave Evans life for capital murder, 10 years each for attempted robbery and conspiracy charges, three years on one firearms charge and five years on a second.
A jury found Evans guilty of all charges Feb. 8, but Virginia law requires a judge to determine the final sentence in cases where the defendant is a juvenile. Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but Poston ruled they could not pursue that punishment because of Evans' age.
In March, Poston sentenced Evans' co-defendant and cousin, 18-year-old Howard Lee Chapman, to life plus five years in prison. Poston had found Chapman guilty of first-degree murder and attempted robbery two months earlier.
Evans, identified as the triggerman, was 15 when he shot the 43-year-old Reynolds during an attempted robbery.
The case began April 26, 1994 - the day Reynolds was shot five times by a fare in the back seat of his cab. Reynolds' last words to taxi dispatchers were, ``I've been shot.'' He died shortly afterward in a hospital.
Evans, arrested a day later, gave two statements to police. In the first, he said that he didn't pull the trigger. In the second, he said he did.
On Wednesday, Evans took the stand against the advice of one of his attorneys, Robert E. Frank. The teenager again denied slaying Reynolds and called Chapman the killer. He said he jumped from the cab before the shooting started and didn't know Chapman had a gun. He said he was innocent of an earlier robbery conviction and even denied that Chapman was his cousin.
So why did he make that second, incriminating statement to police? asked Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Lisa Caton.
Because he was threatened by detectives, Evans replied. Because he was threatened by Chapman's family, he said.
``I didn't shoot that man,'' Evans said.``I was in two states of mind when I made those statements. I was in a lack of sleep.''
As Evans continued to testify, Poston sank lower in his chair, his forehead against his hand, his expression growing stern. It was becoming apparent that Evans was digging his grave.
``My client took the stand today and obviously has not helped himself,'' Frank told the judge. Still, he asked Poston to sentence Evans as a juvenile, thus reducing the penalty. ``Do we warehouse him for the rest of his life, or do we try to rehabilitate him?'' Frank asked.
Poston apparently believed there was little left to save in Reginald Evans.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ROBBERY SHOOTING TRIAL
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