THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200485
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
An argument among several men late Wednesday ended with gunfire that killed a Portsmouth man, police said.
Police arrested a 17-year-old and charged him Thursday with murder in the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Frederick R. Birnie, police spokeswoman Elizabeth Jones said.
The teenager is being held in the Tidewater Detention Home.
An 18-year-old man, Riehila A. Conner, also was arrested Wednesday and charged with robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, Jones said.
Birnie's Portsmouth neighbor and companion Wednesday night, 23-year-old James Jiles Jr., who lives in the first block of Independence Street, was robbed during the argument at Schooner and Sloop trails in the Holly Cove section. Jiles wasn't hurt.
Police did not say what the argument was about or how the investigation led to the suspects.
After the shooting, Jiles and Birnie drove away and found a police officer nearby. Birnie died in Sentara Norfolk General Hospital early Thursday, Jones said.
Another man is being sought in connection with the incident on suspicion of robbery and using a gun in a crime, Jones said.
Police are searching for Anthony Fields, 18, who was last known to live on Schooner Trail not far from the crime scene.
Fields was out on $500 bail for an Aug. 11 disorderly conduct charge in Chesapeake at the time of the shooting, court records show.
He was described as black, 6 foot 2 and 150 pounds. Police ask anyone with information about Fields to call 487-1234. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Riehila A. Conner, left, was was arrested Wednesday and charged with
robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Anthony
Fields is being sought in connection with the crime.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT MURDER SHOOTING ARREST
ROBBERY by CNB