Grand jury indicts four for murder

MANASSAS –A Prince William grand jury handed up indictments for two persons charged with murder, one charged with attempted capital murder and another for second-degree murder.

Michael Harris of the 12000 block of Island House Loop in Woodbridge will face a jury in Prince William County Circuit Court on Sept. 16 for the death of his then-girlfriend Latrice Nashelle Burke. The 20-year-old is charged with shooting Burke once in the head while the couple was visiting friends at the Red Roof Inn off of Balls Ford Road near Manassas.

According to court documents, the two went to the hotel together Dec. 13, 2001, and left together soon after, but upon leaving, Burke noticed she had forgotten her purse in the room. After Burke retrieved her purse, she noticed that more than $1,000 had been taken from it and questioned those in the room. According to statements made by Harris, Burke produced a gun and he tried to take it from her when it went off.

“I am guilty,” Harris was quoted as saying in court documents. “I shot her. Lock me up, I deserve to die just like she did — I shot my baby.”

When police arrived on the scene, Harris had already disposed of the gun in a wooded area across the street from the motel. When questioned, he gave officers directions to where they could find the weapon.

Harris was one of 102 persons indicted by the grand jury on Monday. Others included 17-year-old Ralph Taylor Jr. of 14501 Fullerton Road in Dale City, who is charged with nine counts, including attempted capital murder for allegedly shooting and robbing two male Michael’s employees behind the store at 14260 Smoketown Road on the night of Feb. 18.

Police said Taylor, along with Renardo Robinson, 18, of 4107 Cardinal Crest Drive, and Nana Owusu, 18, of 2788 Bixby Road, took the victims’ wallets and jackets, punching the first victim, 21, in the face and shooting the other, 18, in the abdomen.

The teen was arrested after a six-hour standoff and more than a dozen gas canisters were fired into his Dale City home by members of the county’s SWAT team.

Taylor is being held in a juvenile detention center in Manassas and will face a judge Aug. 19. Owusu and Robinson will have their charges brought before a grand jury at a later date.

Also indicted by the grand jury are Steven Frederick Walshaw, 40, of 9324 Woodlea Court, Manassas, and Kyjuan Omar-Braxton Trott, 22, of 8532 Highland Lane in Alexandria.

Walshaw is charged with strangling his live-in girlfriend Karen Tegeler on Jan. 23. During a preliminary hearing last month, a detective said Walshaw told him he killed his girlfriend because he had discovered she was going to break up with him. He will face a jury in Prince William Circuit Court July 29-30.

Trott is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Charles E. Robinson, 39, of Woodbridge.

According to court documents, Trott was with 23-year-old Travis S. Massenburg, Robinson’s roommate, when an argument broke out over money between Massenburg and Robinson. When Robinson tried to flee the scene, Massenburg shot him four times with a handgun that was given to him by Trott, police said.

Court documents state that while Robinson was on the ground, Trott went through his pockets to retrieve the stolen money. Trott will stand before a jury in Prince William Circuit Court Aug. 26-28. Massenburg also is charged with murder and will appear in court in August.

Staff writer Trina Goethals can be reached at (703) 368-3101, Ext. 121.