Death sentence vacated for Prince William man
A federal judge in Norfolk has vacated the conviction and death sentence of a Virginia man in the slaying of his marijuana supplier.
U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled Tuesday that Justin Michael Wolfe was denied his due-process rights when Prince William County prosecutors withheld information from his attorneys.
Wolfe had claimed that he was wrongly convicted in the murder-for-hire of another drug dealer, 21-year-old Daniel Petrole Jr., in 2001 in Prince William County.
Man fired at his family during Christmas Eve
A District man was convicted of shooting at his father and brother on Christmas Eve.
Eric Kennedy, 34, was convicted by a jury Monday on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and other offenses. He faces up to nine years in prison, according to the court guidelines, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, on Dec. 24, 2010, Kennedy called his father and demanded to see him to discuss a family-related dispute. The father showed up at the meeting place near the 1600 block of 16th Street SE with his other son, and an argument ensued. Kennedy fired a pistol several times at his relatives.
Boy snatched from street found OK
An 8-year-old boy who was kidnapped and held for ransom in Baltimore was found unharmed Tuesday in an unoccupied townhouse.
Police arrested Darrick Brown Jr., 20, after a woman who saw television reports about the abduction saw the boy and called police, authorities said.
The boy was walking with a friend, when a man put Brown in the trunk of a car and took off. A ransom demand was made, which is unusual and might mean the captors were familiar with someone in the family, detectives said.
-Scott McCabe
