Details emerge in city killing probe

By Brian McNeill

Published: July 23, 2008

Shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, a small army of police officers converged on the Super 8 Motel on Greenbrier Drive in Albemarle County.

Inside room 216 were Theodore Calvin Timberlake, 20, and Trenton Michael Brock, 20. Both young Charlottesville men were wanted on charges of murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Joshua “Spanky” Magruder less than 48 hours earlier.

Timberlake and Brock knew there were officers surrounding the Super 8. The duo called the police department and offered to surrender. They exited the motel and were promptly handcuffed.

Another suspect wanted in connection with the city’s third homicide of 2008, 25-year-old Albemarle resident Rachel Denise Turner, was staying in room 214 at the motel. She also surrendered at the scene.

A search of the rooms was mostly fruitless. But in the stairwell of the motel’s second floor, police officers dug through a trash bin and found a baggie of marijuana, a box of .380 ammunition and a .380-caliber handgun.

New details emerged about Magruder’s slaying and the subsequent investigation after authorities filed search warrants and other documents Wednesday in Albemarle County Circuit Court.

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo declined Wednesday to answer questions raised by the court documents.

“Unfortunately, I am not in a position to respond to any of the questions that you pose,” Longo wrote in an e-mail. “Thanks for your understanding and respect for the investigative process.”

Police, in force

Roughly two hours before police arrested the three suspects at the Super 8, the documents show, a heavily armed SWAT team raided the residence of Luscious Lucas at 403-C at the Friendship Court public housing complex.

Investigators with the Charlottesville and Albemarle County police departments, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, believed the homicide suspects were hiding in Lucas’ apartment, according to the court filings.

During the search, however, the officers found none of the suspects. They did discover a plastic bag with marijuana and a .357 Magnum cartridge, a search warrant said. They also found court documents about Brock and medical records belonging to Timberlake.

While at Lucas’ apartment, the SWAT team received information that the suspects were at the Super 8, located behind Pet Supplies Plus and across the street from the Guadal-ajara Mexican restaurant.

Lucas had rented the room Timberlake and Brock occupied at the Super 8, the court documents said.

Shortly after the SWAT team’s search of the Friendship Court apartment, Bobby Wayne Gardner Jr., 25, drove to a Charlot-tesville police station. Along with Brock and Timberlake, Gardner was wanted on a first-degree murder charge and a felony firearm charge in connection with Magruder’s homicide.

The shooting’s 19-year-old victim, Magruder, was Gard-ner’s cousin. Gardner’s mother, Cheryl Myers, said her son would not kill anyone and has disputed the police allegations.

“My son wouldn’t hurt a flea,” she said.

“Beefing ever since”

According to the court documents, Magruder and a crowd of other people were in the parking lot of a Sixth Street Southeast apartment building just before 3 a.m. Saturday.

Witnesses told police that they had heard there was supposed to be fight. According to Myers, Gardner had gone to the parking lot to fight someone named Jamal. The two young men had gotten into a fight three years earlier and had been enemies ever since, she said.

“Bobby beat him down back then and they’ve been beefing ever since,” she said.

A witness saw a green Honda station wagon and a white Nissan arrive in the parking lot, according to court records. Inside the green station wagon was a woman who had heard about the possible fight. Four black males occupied the white Nissan, the documents said.

“The witness told Detec-tives Reeves and Rudman that once the cars pulled into the parking lot, the shooting started,” a search warrant stated.

The witness told police that four black males were shooting; two were firing in the direction of Monticello Avenue and Sixth Street Southeast. The witness later identified three men — including Timberlake and Brock — by photograph, according to court records.

Myers said Gardner told her that he had fired his handgun while running from the scene. He believed that Jamal was shooting at him, she said.

Shortly after the incident, police found Magruder on the ground, bleeding from at least one gunshot to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 2007 graduate

Magruder was a 2007 graduate of Charlottesville High School and was the father of a young daughter named Taniya Lei Magruder, who also goes by the nickname “Tweety.”

Scattered around the crime scene were .40-caliber shells and .380 shell casings, the court documents show.

Earlier Saturday night, at around 1:45 a.m., a Charlot-tesville police officer saw Timberlake and Brock standing next to a white Nissan. At 2:19 a.m., the same officer saw Brock riding around in the Nissan, the court documents said.

In the aftermath of Magruder’s death, investigators tracked down the Nissan to a car rental agency. The car had been rented to Annette Brock, mother of Rachel Turner, the documents said.

Investigators located the car at Turner’s residence at 1074-A Reservoir Road. The detectives waited until Turner got behind the wheel and attempted to leave before pulling her over. Turner told police that she had not been present during the shooting, but had been at the scene after the violence occurred.

A search of Turner’s residence turned up a .38-caliber handgun.

Police have alleged that Turner allowed Gardner to stay at her residence after the homicide. Gardner’s mother denied that occurred.

Timberlake’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Brock’s attorney, Charles Weber, said he had just been assigned to the case and did not yet have any information.

Timberlake, Brock and Gardner are slated to appear in court Aug. 14. Turner, who is out on bond, is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 18.