Charges dismissed against youngest shooter

More than a year after firing a gun off an Interstate 64 overpass, Brandon Dawson walked into an Albemarle County courtroom Wednesday in his street clothes, having already been freed from juvenile detention.

Dawson, now 17, is on parole from the Department of Juvenile Justice and on probation from charges in Waynesboro.

The final remnant of his case in Albemarle was completed Wednesday after a judge agreed to dismiss three charges still pending against Dawson in the county’s Juvenile & Domestic Relations court.

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Darby Lowe said the charges were held over in anticipation of dismissal if Dawson was cooperative and remained on good behavior.

“Even thought he was in the Department of Juvenile Justice because of [post-dispositional program] issues … his overall compliance has been excellent,” Lowe said in court.

Dawson and co-defendant Slade Woodson were charged with felonies in Albemarle and Waynesboro in connection with shootings along I-64 and in both localities in March 2008. Authorities have said Woodson took Dawson for a drive in his orange 1974 AMC Gremlin. The teens drank beer from a case in Woodson’s car and fired a .22 Ruger rifle at targets including a deer, utility equipment and houses.

Woodson and Dawson also fired shots off the Route 690 overpass and the Ivy exit on I-64. In addition to being present for the entire incident, Dawson has admitted to firing one shot off the overpass and shots at two Albemarle homes.

The shootings shut down part of Interstate 64 and closed Albemarle public schools. Two people driving on I-64 were slightly injured, although not directly hit, by the shots fired.

Dawson pleaded guilty to three charges — involving shots fired at homes and from a vehicle, and five counts of maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle — on May 29, 2008, in the juvenile court.

He originally was sentenced to an indeterminate amount of time at a state juvenile facility on the five charges. He appealed the sentence and was given a suspended sentence to a state facility July 8 to allow him to try a 180-day intensive program at the Blue Ridge Detention Center.

According to court records, Dawson was “progressing well” in the program. But on Oct. 22, Circuit Judge Cheryl Higgins decided that he was not faring well and ordered that he be committed to the state juvenile system.

In court Wednesday, Lowe said that Dawson had a major infraction stemming from a statement he made. When asked about the content of the statement, defense attorney Dana Slater said, “It was a statement made without thinking due to immaturity.”

Lowe said in court that Dawson hasn’t been involved in further illegal activity.

The length of time that Dawson spent in the intensive program and the state juvenile system was not revealed. Slater said after court that Dawson was released early from the state facility.

“It was because he was successful,” Slater said. “He has been out long enough to be successful.”

A message left for Lowe seeking further comment was not immediately returned.

Dawson entered court on Wednesday with his parents. Rather than wearing the blue jumpsuit assigned to him by the Blue Ridge Detention Center, Dawson wore his own blue button-front shirt, blue jeans and brown boots.

Dawson is seeking an education and working, Slater said, noting that his progress has made his attorney and family proud of him. In court Wednesday, he asked the judge to sign his learner’s permit form so he can learn how to drive. The form was not signed immediately because it has to go through a process in the court, Slater said.

When asked if she thought Dawson would be less likely to commit another crime, Slater said she thought Dawson’s charges and punishment have been quite a lesson.

“What an awful set of events to put a young man’s life to a place of tremendous growth,” she said.

Slater said Dawson could be on supervised release until he turns 21.

Woodson, who pleaded guilty to 14 felonies in Albemarle earlier this year, is scheduled to be sentenced June 23 in the county’s circuit court. He faces a minimum sentence of three years in prison because of a firearm charge. Authorities have said state sentencing guidelines probably will recommend a sentence of less than 28 years.