A teenager who admitted he would routinely rob drug dealers, but said he took good care of his 2-year-old child, will spend 29 years in prison in the death of a Virginia Commonwealth University student. Richmond Circuit Judge Beverly W. Snukals yesterday sentenced Howard R. Scott III near the low end of sentencing guidelines in the robbery and shooting of Tyler J. Binsted, noting that the defendant was 17 when the crime took place.

In September, a 24-year-old Chesterfield County man shot and killed his estranged wife then himself. The couple’s two children, ages 3 and 1, lost both parents.

Staunton’s most notorious unsolved case, the 1967 double homicide of two young women at an ice cream store, may finally be solved with the arrest of a dying 60-year-old woman. 

Police have charged a Lawrenceville man with murder in Friday’s fatal shootings of a father and daughter and the wounding of a third family member in Lunenburg County. Jamel C. Jones, 26, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the shootings of the Seward family, which took place just before noon Friday outside their home in a residential neighborhood in the small town of Kenbridge.

KENBRIDGE—Police have charged a Lawrenceville man with murder in connection with Friday’s fatal shooting of a father and his daughter and the wounding of a third family member in Lunenburg County. Jamel C. Jones, 26, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder following the shootings of the Seward family, which took place just before noon Friday outside their home in a residential neighborhood in the small town of Kenbridge. Additional charges are expected to be filed in the case.

Petersburg police are seeking a fourth suspect in connection with the shooting death of a Petersburg man on Sunday, police said. A warrant for Donnell A. Green, 18, was obtained yesterday, said police spokeswoman Esther Hyatt. Police said Donnell Green is believed to be related to two other suspects, Anthony Lorenzo “Amp” Green and Kevin Correll Green.

Petersburg police are seeking a fourth suspect in connection with the shooting death of a Petersburg man on Sunday, police said. A warrant for Donnell A. Green, 18, was obtained yesterday, said police spokeswoman Esther Hyatt. Police said Donnell Green is believed to be related to two other suspects, Anthony Lorenzo “Amp” Green and Kevin Correll Green.

It has been 13 years since Jennifer Evans disappeared.  Richmond Times-Dispatch writer Bill Geroux has spent years covering the search, arrests, trials and appeals. His five-part series concludes today with a jailhouse interview with Dustin Turner.

VIRGINIA BEACH Not for one moment did Linda Summitt believe her son had killed Jennifer Evans. But she first recognized trouble in Dustin A. Turner’s voice when he called home to Bloomington, Ind., on June 27, 1995. “I have to tell you something,“ he said. “I witnessed a murder.“

Binsted Austin A Richmond grand jury yesterday indicted an accused getaway driver on first-degree murder and other charges in the killing of a Virginia Commonwealth University student. Until yesterday, LaPrecious Nicole Austin had faced only a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Tyler J. Binsted on March 27 at Byrd Park.

PART 3: Detectives in Virginia Beach investigating Jennifer Evans’ disappearance soon turned their suspicions to two young men training to become Navy SEALs. The trainees, Dustin A. Turner and Billy Joe Brown, were an odd pair of best friends on their way to becoming members of the Navy’s elite commando force. SLIDESHOW

The trial for a former school administrator accused of killing his wife last year in her Forest home has been postponed a second time. Wesley Earnest, 38, of Moneta is charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the Dec. 19 slaying of his estranged wife, Jocelyn Earnest. Prosecutors say he staged the scene to appear as if she had committed suicide.

A Petersburg man charged yesterday with stabbing to death his live-in boyfriend served three years in prison for fatally stabbing his first cousin in 2003. Timothy M. Blowe, 41, was arrested early yesterday and charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Charles Avent, 39, who was stabbed just before midnight in a trailer the men shared in 2100 block of County Drive, Petersburg police said.

A National Guard member convicted last month of murdering his girlfriend is a step closer to getting a new trial. Judge Gary A. Hicks of Henrico County Circuit Court agreed yesterday to suspend formal imposition of a 15-year sentence he issued Oct. 31 against
Wyatt Ward Hollar after a four-day jury trial. The move gives Hicks time to consider motions from Hollar’s defense team for a mistrial and comes just two days before the sentence would have become final. Hicks issued a conviction order Nov. 5 that cannot be amended after 21 days.