Sentence for I-64 sniper, 16, suspended

By: TASHA KATES/MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE | Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: July 10, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- A 16-year-old Crozet boy who pleaded guilty to taking part in the Interstate 64 shootings will spend 180 days in an intensive program at a juvenile center.

Albemarle County Circuit Judge Cheryl Higgins on Tuesday suspended Brandon Dawson's sentence to a state juvenile facility, deciding instead to send the teen to the post-disposition program at the Blue Ridge Detention Center. Dawson sought an appeal last month after he originally was sentenced in the county's Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in May to an indeterminate amount of time at a state facility.

Dawson testified Tuesday that he wasn't thinking on March 27 when police reported several shots fired on I-64 from the state Route 690 overpass and at the Ivy exit.

"I've been thinking about it," Dawson said. "I was thinking it was a bad decision, and I was hanging out with the wrong person."

Dawson and 19-year-old Slade A. Woodson were charged with 15 felony counts in Albemarle County in connection with the shootings, during which two people were slightly injured. Authorities have said several homes in Albemarle also were hit with gunfire.

Woodson's trial is scheduled for Sept. 16 in Albemarle Circuit Court.

Dawson pleaded guilty to five counts of maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle. Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Darby Lowe previously said in court that Dawson had admitted to firing one shot off the overpass and two shots at homes in Albemarle.

Lowe said in court that the services at the Blue Ridge juvenile program would be beneficial to Dawson. "This is a boy who will come back to our community, and we want him to come back in better shape," she said.

Dawson also was sentenced to supervised release and ordered to pay about $12,500 in restitution. Higgins said the teen would be expected to get a job after he is released and pay 20 percent of his salary toward the restitution. The victims in the case also will get a chance to speak with him through a restorative justice program.

Tasha Kates is a staff writer at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.