5 more charges for sniper suspects

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: April 1, 2008

A 19-year-old Afton man charged in Thursday’s Interstate 64 shootings faces an additional five charges and will remain in a Verona jail.
Slade A. Woodson appeared by video Tuesday morning in Albemarle County General District Court for a bond hearing. Woodson, who is being held at the Middle River Regional Jail, was denied bond and requested a court-appointed attorney.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford said another five charges were laid against Woodson and an unnamed 16-year-old juvenile also implicated in the shootings.
Both males were charged with three counts of shoot-ing from a vehicle to endanger people and two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling. Lunsford said the vehicle charges are related to the I-64 shootings, while the other two charges have to do with shots fired at two homes in Albemarle County. Lunsford did not reveal the homes’ addresses, but said the homes were shot at during Thursday morning’s events.

The teenagers have been accused of shooting at six vehicles, including a Virginia Department of Transportation dump truck, during a shooting spree that shut down I-64 for several hours Thursday morning. Woodson also faces two charges in Waynesboro of shooting at a car and at the DuPont Community Credit Union the same day.

Woodson now faces up to 150 years in prison if he is convicted of all charges. He is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on May 1. Lunsford said Woodson could request bond once he has an attorney on this case, although bond was denied for him Monday morning in Waynesboro.

Find more in Wednesday’s Progress.