Return to story

9 HELD IN BEATINGS

January 16, 2009 12:36 am

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.

He said that when he watched the video taken of the beating, he could see the victims standing with their hands in their pockets when they were jumped by a mob.

The victims were then left in the field after the beating, he said, and they called 911 for help.

One of the victims was severely beaten and kicked in the head to the point where he had bleeding on the brain and nerve damage to his jaw, Smith said.

The other boy, whose injuries were more severe, was sent to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Smith said. That teen had a laceration on his liver and surgery for a broken jaw.

Both victims were released from the hospital as of yesterday, Smith said.

No court dates have been set for the suspects, but the next possible day they could be arraigned is Tuesday.

The six adults are currently being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond and the juveniles are being held at the Rappahannock Juvenile Detention Center.

Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424
Email: ebiltz@freelancestar.com