Springfield murder case could qualify for death penalty
Dispute over speed bump allegedly led to death of Springfield man
A two-year-old dispute over the installation of a speed bump has left one Springfield man dead and another facing a second-degree murder charge.
According to court documents and police testimony, David Alan Patton, 44, confronted fellow Springfield resident Stephen Andrew Carr, 48, in June about his involvement in the installation of a speed bump on the 6800 block of Fieldmaster Drive, near Carr's residence. Patton, along with some other neighbors, was reportedly not pleased with the traffic-calming measure.
Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) said Carr had contacted his office in May 2008 to get the speed bump installed because he was concerned about the safety of children in the Orange Hunt neighborhood. The tree-lined community is in close proximity to Orange Hunt Elementary School.
The speed bump was installed earlier this year after a lengthy approval process that Herrity said Carr persevered through.
According to police, several months after the speed bump was installed, Patton confronted Carr in front of Carr's house after the two had pulled up to the residence at the same time in their respective vehicles just before 9 p.m. on June 11.
According to a criminal complaint of assault filed against Patton by Carr the next day, Carr wrote that Patton "exited his vehicle after a traffic altercation" and confronted Carr "face to face."
"The two had exited their vehicles and were having a verbal altercation," Fairfax County Police spokesman Bud Walker said on Tuesday. Walker added there were accusations of assault.
Carr wrote in his June 12 criminal complaint that as he was attempting to back into his driveway, someone driving Patton's car struck his car and then Patton exited the passenger side of that car and "struck my back window, side window then reached in my passenger window, and grabbed my arm."
Carr wrote that both men then called 911, with Patton requesting an ambulance, claiming he had been struck by Carr's vehicle.
But Walker said when police arrived, neither man pursued assault charges. "Police could not verify that any assault had occurred," Walker said.
"Patton was cited with disorderly conduct and it wasn't until the next day that Carr changed his mind, contacted a magistrate and filed the criminal complaint for assault against Patton."
Patton was arrested on July 6.The case was to be originally heard August 30, but was continued to this Thursday, according to court records.
On Sunday, just before 10 p.m., police responded to a 911 call from Carr's girlfriend, claiming that Carr had been shot, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
According to the sworn statement, Carr's girlfriend told police that as she and Carr were watching TV, Patton entered the residence through the front door armed with a handgun and ordered the couple to the floor. After they complied, their hands were secured with black "zip ties."
The affidavit states that Carr attempted to get free of his ties and engaged Patton, who then allegedly shot him dead.
The girlfriend ran upstairs when a roommate of Carr's ran out of the house with Patton in pursuit. She called police from an upstairs bathroom.
According to court documents, police secured a perimeter around the residence and eventually discovered Carr's body.
Patton was soon apprehended in the back yard of the home. He was in possession of a black backpack that contained duct tape, black zip ties, and a revolver, according to the affidavit. During a subsequent search of his house in the 9100 block of Conservation Way in Springfield, police discovered a box for a .22-caliber Ruger handgun.
Patton is currently being held without bond. He is currently charged with second-degree murder, but because Carr was a witness in the assault case that will now never be heard due to his death, Patton may qualify for capital murder charges.
Virginia Code 18.2-31 states that capital murder--a class one felony punishable by death--applies to the "willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any witness in a criminal case after a subpoena has been issued for such witness by the court, the clerk, or an attorney, when the killing is for the purpose of interfering with the person's duties in such case."
Patton's current attorney, Joseph J. McCarthy, as well as the office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, declined to comment on whether the capital murder charge will be pursued in the case.
"Patton's second-degree murder charges can be changed anytime as the case develops," Walker said Tuesday.
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=2175
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