anyplainjoe
10-16-2007, 07:46
Sad story below....
Teen killed after stealing bale of straw
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:39 AM
By Mary Beth Lane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The theft of a straw bale worth less than $5 led to tragic consequences Sunday: the death of a 17-year-old Chillicothe boy.
The man accused of picking up a hunting rifle and shooting at the Ford F-150 holding the teen and a friend said he only meant to scare them, Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said yesterday.
"It sounds like it was innocent, as far as the boys," he said. "No one is denying they took the straw. It's just a tragedy."
The shooting killed Nathaniel W. Kennedy, 17. His friend, 18-year-old Jarrod W. Fyffe, also of Chillicothe, was not injured.
Eric Whisman, 35, is charged with murder and attempted murder, accused of fatally shooting the teenager with a .270-caliber bolt-action hunting rifle. A Portsmouth Municipal Court judge yesterday ordered him held in Scioto County jail in lieu of $35,000 bond, and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Friday.
Whisman lives in a trailer at 747 Upper Twin Creek-Rocky Ford Rd. in Blue Creek, about 85 miles south of Columbus. Property behind the trailer is used by a shooting club for target practice. He told authorities that he is the property's caretaker.
The two boys, a dog with them, arrived in the pickup around 4:45 p.m. Sunday for some target shooting but found the premises closed and no one around. They saw the straw bale and put it in the pickup. A shot rang out as they drove off, Donini said.
They had gone about a quarter-mile along the road and were in front of 561 Upper Twin Creek-Rocky Ford Rd. when a second shot rang out. This one hit the pickup's bed, went through the driver's seat and hit Kennedy in the back. He was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, W. Va., where he died.
Kennedy's grieving relatives were too upset yesterday to talk. Relatives of Fyffe's didn't want to talk, either.
"The suspect stated that he didn't mean to kill him. He just wanted to scare them," Donini said.
The typical price for a bale of straw is $2 to $4, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture said.
County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn likely will ask a grand jury for an indictment this week, the sheriff said.
Teen killed after stealing bale of straw
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:39 AM
By Mary Beth Lane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The theft of a straw bale worth less than $5 led to tragic consequences Sunday: the death of a 17-year-old Chillicothe boy.
The man accused of picking up a hunting rifle and shooting at the Ford F-150 holding the teen and a friend said he only meant to scare them, Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said yesterday.
"It sounds like it was innocent, as far as the boys," he said. "No one is denying they took the straw. It's just a tragedy."
The shooting killed Nathaniel W. Kennedy, 17. His friend, 18-year-old Jarrod W. Fyffe, also of Chillicothe, was not injured.
Eric Whisman, 35, is charged with murder and attempted murder, accused of fatally shooting the teenager with a .270-caliber bolt-action hunting rifle. A Portsmouth Municipal Court judge yesterday ordered him held in Scioto County jail in lieu of $35,000 bond, and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Friday.
Whisman lives in a trailer at 747 Upper Twin Creek-Rocky Ford Rd. in Blue Creek, about 85 miles south of Columbus. Property behind the trailer is used by a shooting club for target practice. He told authorities that he is the property's caretaker.
The two boys, a dog with them, arrived in the pickup around 4:45 p.m. Sunday for some target shooting but found the premises closed and no one around. They saw the straw bale and put it in the pickup. A shot rang out as they drove off, Donini said.
They had gone about a quarter-mile along the road and were in front of 561 Upper Twin Creek-Rocky Ford Rd. when a second shot rang out. This one hit the pickup's bed, went through the driver's seat and hit Kennedy in the back. He was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, W. Va., where he died.
Kennedy's grieving relatives were too upset yesterday to talk. Relatives of Fyffe's didn't want to talk, either.
"The suspect stated that he didn't mean to kill him. He just wanted to scare them," Donini said.
The typical price for a bale of straw is $2 to $4, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture said.
County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn likely will ask a grand jury for an indictment this week, the sheriff said.