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| Tue, Nov. 24 - - Mobile - RSS | |
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9 HELD IN BEATINGS
Courtland students charged in violent beating
Date published: 1/16/2009
BY ELLEN BILTZ Nine high school students were charged with two counts each of malicious wounding by mob this week after two teenagers were severely beaten Sunday afternoon. Spotsylvania County Sheriff Howard Smith said the beatings were videotaped on camera phones and investigators obtained the video as evidence. He said the last of the nine students was arrested yesterday. Six of them are adults and three are juveniles. The six adults were identified by Smith as Jonathan R. Longtin, 18, Kyle A. Brown, 18, Matthew W. Shepherd, 18, Tajh H. Pendleton, 19, De'onte C. Jones, 18, and John H. "Jay" Madison, 18. The juveniles' names have not been released. Four of the adults charged were starting football players for Courtland High School this past season. Pendleton and Jones were running backs, Madison was a wide receiver and Longtin was a tight end. At least one of those charged, Brown, attends Spotsylvania High School. Smith said yesterday that police conducted interviews throughout the week to determine who was involved in the beatings. Text messages, MySpace pages and videos taken on camera phones all helped to pinpoint those responsible, Smith said. He said that police learned there were seven other students who stood around during the beating, cheering it on. "As disturbing as it is to see these two helpless boys, it's even more disturbing to see the ones around them, clapping and cheering," he said. Smith said that those cheering have not yet been charged because they have assisted in the investigation. He said it would be up to Commonwealth's Attorney Bill Neely whether to charge them. The assaults, which happened in a field next to the Stoneybrooke subdivision off Courthouse Road in Spotsylvania, were unprovoked and no motive has been determined, Smith said. "They didn't even know it was coming," he said of the two victims. One victim was 19 years old and the other 18. Both were from Spotsylvania, but were not Courtland students. Smith said the two victims showed up to the field because they believed there would be a pickup football game about to start.
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 1/16/2009
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