Heart-shaped balloons, stuffed animals and candles surround the portrait of a pregnant teen who died after being shot Monday at a Highland Springs apartment complex. A note at this curbside shrine urges Wazira Harris to rest in peace and says she’s in a much better place. “Didn’t really know you but saddened by the lost.“ “Loss” is likely what the author meant, but “lost” is apt. The lost ones perpetrating this mayhem are indeed the source of sadness. And “lost” describes Highland Springs, a community engulfed in a wave of violence at odds with its small-town ambience. Harris, who was a senior at Highland Springs High School, is among a half-dozen people slain in the area over the past two years.

Henrico County police have arrested two Highland Springs High School students on felony charges of adulterating food after authorities received a complaint that the students allegedly contaminated the food of a classmate with paint thinner. Police identified one student as 18-year-old Andrew S. McGuiness, of the 200 block of Robin Avenue, and said the other student is 17, a juvenile.

In a chilling courtroom declaration of innocence, convicted child killer John Bradley Crawford said yesterday that he rejected plea agreements that would have freed him after 15 years, and he promised the mother of his victim that he will win an appeal. Standing before Judge J. Overton Harris in Hanover County Circuit Court, Crawford denied any role in the brutal slaying of a 6-year-old Highland Springs youth in December 1980. He said his jury was biased, evidence against him was fabricated, and public opinion developed from news-media accounts had assured his eventual conviction.

Alcohol and a high-speed crash that ended the life of her longtime friend will cost Ashley Bray more than a year in prison. But Bray, 28, also will suffer a lifelong brain injury and loss of memory of the March 21 crash last year on North Airport Drive near Old Hanover Road. The early morning crash left Bray and 30-year-old Chez C. Hopkins pinned in her 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

Ariel King wants to be a magazine writer, but for now, playing DJ will suffice. King, 17, is one of 50 students in the radio broadcasting and journalism program at Highland Springs Technical Center, where she is in regular rotation as a DJ on the student radio station.

Ruthanne Doherty scored 10 second-quarter points and helped key a dominant defensive effort that gave third-ranked L.C. Bird a 43-33 win over sixth-ranked Meadowbrook in last night’s first round of the Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament.

A Highland Springs home is on fire this morning. Henrico County firefighters responded to the fire in the 200 block of North Juniper Avenue, off Nine Mile Road, just before 6:30 a.m. Fire Capt. Doug Reynolds reported heavy fire in the home. No further information is available. Check back at timesdispatch.com for updates as they become available.

A Highland Springs couple remained in the Henrico County jail last night, arrested on multiple firearms and neglect charges after allegedly taking turns pointing a handgun at a busload of elementary school students. Patricia Edwards Murray, 26, and Brian Phillip Stephenson, 36, both of the 200 block of Mapleleaf Avenue, face hearings March 9 on a total of 13 charges, six of them felonies dealing with reckless disregard for a child.

Family members feared last night that longtime neighborhood rivalries may have been behind the brazen shooting death of a 16-year-old Henrico County youth.

The Highland Springs and Henrico High School marching bands excelled at the recent Asymmetrix Entertainment National High Stepping Marching Band Competition. Up against 25 other bands, the Highland Springs Marching Battalion took home second place overall, and the Henrico Warrior Band won third place. Highland Springs High School won several additional awards in the final round, including second place, general effect; second place, music; first place, drum line; first place, drum majors; and third place, majorettes.

John Bradley Crawford is no longer the 19-year-old he was in December 1980. That’s when, authorities say, he abducted a 6-year-old Highland Springs boy just home from school, carried him off to Hanover County, molested him and left him to die. A hunter found the lifeless, scarred body of Alexander Paul Glanz three days later, Dec. 6, tied at the wrists and ankles and with only underwear and socks to ward off the cold.