Death penalty 'on the table' in teen killing
A Roanoke man may face the death penalty after new charges were filed in connection with the death last month of a city teen.
Carey Shane Padgett, 21, will be arraigned today on new charges of capital murder during the course of a robbery and capital murder during the course of an abduction. He also faces a new robbery charge.
Padgett already was charged with first-degree murder and abduction stemming from the July 7 slaying of 18-year-old Cara Holley.
Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach said Monday that the capital murder charges do not mean prosecutors necessarily will seek the death penalty, but "it puts it on the table."
Police have said in a search warrant that Padgett confessed to taking Holley to a field in Roanoke County to talk and smoke marijuana, then beat her to death with a tire iron. Padgett led officers to where he buried Holley's body in a wooded area in Franklin County, according to a search warrant.
Padgett, who had been a night-shift worker at Advance Auto Parts, wanted to take Holley's SUV and leave Roanoke, the warrant said.
Holley, who like Padgett had graduated from Patrick Henry High School, was a receptionist and retail worker who planned to attend community college this fall.
Padgett told officers that he and Holley were friends, the warrant said. A classmate of Holley's from Patrick Henry said at a memorial service that Padgett had stalked Holley.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/258763
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