These stories are from a writing assignment during the workshop. The students visited Roanoke Circuit Court and spoke with a judge and lawyers about an actual case. The students did not attend an on-the-record hearing.
By Darius Smith
A student who brought a firearm to William Fleming High School in January did not show for a plea hearing in Roanoke Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Prince Darius-Aaron Daniels, 19, was arrested on Jan. 8 after a woman, Melissa Mines, complained to Student Resource Officer J.H. Bowdel about a threat to her son.
Mines did not initially know who was threatening her son, according to a warrant filed in the court. Mines did know the suspect was driving a 1995 Buick Skylark, the search warrant said. It is unclear how Daniels was identified.
Daniels told an assistant principal, William Birdlebough, that he had a six-cylinder pistol found in a Louis Vuitton handbag, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Patterson on Wednesday. Daniels was then arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property.
A grand jury indicted Daniels on these charges, court documents said. The defense and the prosecution reached a guilty plea agreement in exchange for either a fine or a lowered jail time, court documents said.
Daniels and his attorney Sarah Timmers, a public defender, were absent. Two officials from the Roanoke Public Defender’s Office told Judge Charles N. Dorsey.
The hearing was rescheduled for 3 p.m. Monday, June 28.
