Suspects in home invasion guilty
WEDOWEE––Two of the three young men charged with robbery/burglary in a home invasion in Roanoke pleaded guilty, and a jury quickly found the third guilty of the charges.
It took jurors 16 minutes to find Brandon Terrell “Chubby” Shears, 20, of Recreational Drive, Roanoke, guilty of the Aug. 2, 2011, first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery.
Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge Steve Perryman sentenced him to 200 months on each count, or 16 years, but granted defense attorney Scott Hewitt’s request for a split sentence, allowing him to serve four years, then the rest on supervised probation.
The judge sentenced him under the sentencing guidelines but on the high end of the guidelines. None of the three had prior felony convictions.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Newsome and Hewitt had a lot of questions about what the defendants and others were wearing that night.
Flonnie M. Robinson in a steady voice told the jury about the three men kicking in her door and searching her home while one held a gun in her face.
She looks to be about 90 pounds, under 5 feet tall, and she uses a walker. After her testimony she had to be helped from the witness box. At the time of the incident she was 86 years old.
She explained in detail how they were wearing either masks or a bandanna; how two were dressed in black and one had on a white T-shirt.
She explained she does not keep money at home and had given away her jewelry. Apparently Shears thought the Robinsons had a connection to the closed-down laundromat across the road from the house but they never have. Decades ago they had run a store in the building.
Co-defendants Chris Lajohea Foster, 23, of 429 Pine St., and Christopher Ballard, 19, of 750 Seymour Dr., Apt. 1, testified against Shears. They recently pleaded guilty to burglary second degree, a reduced charge, and the robbery charge was dropped. Perryman sentenced them to six years each.
Testimony revealed that last August the three got together and talked about robbing someone in the Mill Village. They walked to the house at 256 Mulberry St. and cased it. They saw no cars. Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Peggie Ward, had just left and her husband, Junior, had gone to play dominoes.
Foster testified he opened the door, Shears kicked it in and they went into the house. Shears held the gun on her while the other two rummaged through the bedroom and rest of the house. Shears asked Mrs. Robinson where the money was and pointed the gun in her face and to her chest. They didn’t find anything and did not take anything, Foster testified.
“I knew we had messed up. I knew it was wrong,” he said. He identified a black t-shirt as one he was wearing.
Shears gave Foster the gun as they came out of the house. Foster took it and wrapped it in the shirt, minutes later throwing it in a field as they ran away with Shears going another direction.
Hewitt asked him if he didn’t like it that Shears had a gun and held it on Mrs. Robinson and Foster said “yes sir.” He said he and Ballard had been together for most of the year in the county jail and his conscience had gotten to him.
Ballard said they smoked marijuana before deciding to “hit a lick” or rob someone.
Several witnesses testified who either had seen the three together that night or had heard Shears talking about the incident later.
Roanoke Patrolman Mark Farmer was riding through the neighborhood, scanning the yards with all car lighting turned off when he said saw Foster and Ballard run across the road. Officers handcuffed and patted them down. Law enforcement was concerned about recovering the handgun due to a school being nearby, he said.
Former Roanoke police officer Anthony Johnson said a man who went out to work in his garden found the handgun, partially wrapped in a t-shirt. It was a .38-caliber snub-nosed Smith&Wesson revolver. It was found a short distance from the scene of the robbery.
Other witnesses told similar stories about seeing Shears and his looking worried that night.
Hewitt asked for a judgment of acquittal, saying others were in the area at the same time wearing the same kind of clothing. He argued the state had not proven its case but the judge ruled against him saying there had been plenty of evidence.
The state rested Thursday afternoon, followed by the defense who put on no witnesses. The jury came back Friday for closing arguments and deliberation, rendering the guilty verdict.
