The Sixth Street killing: Police probe possible gang links

Police have arrested four Charlottesville residents in connection with the Saturday slaying of a 19-year-old city man — including one suspect previously charged with a Buckingham County homicide.

Investigators with the Charlottesville police, the Albemarle County police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms located and arrested the four suspects at an Albemarle County hotel along U.S. 29 just before 8 p.m. Sunday.

Police had been searching for the suspects as part of the investigation into the killing of Joshua Anthony Magruder, whom police found dead in the 700 block of Sixth Street Southeast around 3 a.m. Saturday.

Three of the suspects — Theodore Calvin Timberlake, 20, Bobby Wayne Gardner Jr., 25, and Trenton Michael Brock, 20 — were charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The fourth suspect, Rachel Denise Turner, 25, was charged with being an accessory after the fact. Police said Turner allowed Gardner to “hole up” at her apartment in the aftermath of the shooting.

Gardner, a convicted felon, was also charged with possession or transportation of a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.

While details of what led to the homicide remain unclear, police said that Magruder was shot at least twice while running away. A crowd of “quite a few” bystanders witnessed the shooting, police said in announcing the arrests Monday.

The suspects are known to associate with Charlottesville-area gangs, police said.

“There appears to have been a conflict between two groups,” Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said. “Suffice it to say, a conflict arose. Gunfire resulted.”

Magruder — also known as Spanky — may also have been a gang member. A memorial near the crime scene included bottles of Grey Goose vodka, stuffed animals, Newport cigarettes, a pinwheel and graffiti by the 6-N-O gang, which has long been associated with the area around the Friendship Court housing complex near the Downtown Mall.

“You can draw your own reasonable conclusions based on that tagging,” Longo said, adding that none of the individuals is a confirmed gang member. “The fact that there’s that sort of tagging on a memorial for someone who lost his life, that’s pretty remarkable.”

Investigators believe that Magruder’s killing may be related to a second shooting that occurred at 7 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Page Street. In that incident, an 18-year-old Charlottesville resident was shot in the chest, though he is expected to recover. Police have arrested and charged two city residents in connection with the shooting.

“We think there is a possible connection,” said Capt. Bryant Bibb of Charlottesville police.

Police recovered four firearms related to the weekend gunfire. In connection with the second incident, police found one gun in a yard on Page Street and another in a vehicle parked at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Authorities declined to say where the other two guns were found.

Police have also recovered physical evidence and are continuing to interview witnesses of the homicide, Bibb said.

Authorities found the suspects at the hotel — which police declined to identify — after a SWAT team executed a search warrant at around 6 p.m. at a Friendship Court apartment where the suspects were thought to be hiding. After finding the apartment vacant, they “received information” that led them to the suspects, Longo said.

Longo said that he does not expect further violence to spiral out of the weekend shootings.

“The fact that we have people in custody minimizes the likelihood of that happening,” he said.

Just in case, Longo added, he is stepping up police patrols for the next few days.

At least two of the people charged in connection with Saturday’s homicide have criminal records. Gardner has been convicted of four trespassing charges in Charlottesville and has a felony conviction, but details on the felony were unavailable.

Timberlake has been convicted of misdemeanor assault and public swearing/intoxication.

Timberlake was one of three people charged in a March 9, 2007, homicide in Buckingham. In that case, a 23-year-old Buckingham County man, Clarence Maurice Austin, was shot to death on the side of Route 20, according to witnesses. Another Charlottesville resident, Ryan Martez Turner, 18 at the time, was convicted in the slaying. Claude Lorenzo Booker of Palmyra was convicted of charges related to the incident, but not murder.

All the charges against Timberlake — eight felonies in all, including capital murder — were dropped Jan. 8.

Buckingham Commonwealth’s Attorney E.M. Wright Jr. said that prosecutors ultimately decided they lacked sufficient evidence to convict Timberlake in the 2007 homicide.

“We just couldn’t make it happen. … At times, [this job is] frustrating. This is one of those times,” Wright said.

Timberlake, Gardner and Brock are being held without bond at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Turner was released Monday on $5,000 bond.

Longo praised the hard work of his police department and other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation.

“They worked, without exaggeration, from the time we received the call to the time the individuals were apprehended,” Longo said.

Magruder’s killing is the city’s third homicide of 2008.

This article has been edited to change P-N-O to 6-N-O.