The Fauquier Times needs your help. piedmontjournalism.org/support-us
♥ SUPPORT BASKETBALL, WRESTLING PREVIEWS: Fauquier, Liberty and Kettle Run coverage, SPORTS, Pages 12-14.
January 20, 2021
Our 204th year | Vol. 204, No. 3
| www.Fauquier.com | $1.50
Students return to classrooms Tuesday - again
Police: Man who drove suspects to Jackson Street murder scene is arrested By Coy Ferrell
Times Staff Writer
By Robin Earl
Times Staff Writer
Fauquier County’s 20 public schools welcomed students back to school buildings this week after two weeks of all-remote learning following the holiday break. Although smiles were mostly hidden behind masks Tuesday, teachers and students seemed excited to be taking another tentative step toward normalcy. By the end of this week, 6,891 Fauquier County students will have returned to their classrooms part time. Half of those whose families chose the hybrid model will attend school Monday and Tuesday and the other half Thursday and Friday. They’ll also have three days of asynchronistic learning from home. See STUDENTS, page 5
PHOTO BY CARSON MCREA/MCRAE VISUAL MEDIA
Jamie Edgar, assistant principal at H.M. Pearson Elementary School, was wearing her “ray of sunshine” costume in honor of the first day back to school Jan. 19.
The man arrested Jan. 12 in connection with the Oct. 6 shooting death of Marshall resident Derek De La Iglesia allegedly drove two people to and from the scene of the murder, according to the criminal complaint filed with his arrest. The murder, the complaint alleges, Tyrik D’Andre was the result of a botched atSimmons tempt to rob De La Iglesia. Tyrik D’Andre Simmons, 22, a convicted felon, was interviewed and arrested this week in Warrenton by detectives from the Warrenton Police Department and charged with being an accessory to second-degree murder after the fact. He remains in custody, according to court records. See MURDER, page 4
Toddler killed Saturday in alleged hit-and-run By Coy Ferrell
Times Staff Writer
A 2-year-old child was struck by a vehicle at about 11:30 a.m. Jan. 16 in an apparent hit-andrun traffic crash on U.S. 29 near Della Street in José Santiago Opal. The FauMendoza quier County Sheriff’s Office reported the toddler, who was hit by a southbound vehicle while they were in the roadway, succumbed to their injuries at Fauquier Hospital shortly after the crash. José Santiago Mendoza, 65, of
Bladensburg, Maryland, turned himself in the next day, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Steven Lewis. Mendoza was charged with failure to stop for a traffic crash that resulted in injury or death, a class 5 felony. He remains held in custody without bond. Investigators were able to track down the suspect so quickly because a witness to the incident provided the license plate number of Mendoza’s vehicle to law enforcement, according to the criminal complaint filed with Mendoza’s arrest. The plate number matched a 2002 Mitsubishi registered to Mendoza and a See HIT AND RUN, page 4
PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER
TEMPERATURE CHECK: Fauquier High varsity cheerleader Ellie Bunch has her temperature checked by cheer coach D.J. Christian as she arrives at last Wednesday’s boys basketball opener vs. Kettle Run. High school sports competition returned to Fauquier County last week for the first time since March 13, 2020, when the pandemic hit. See the sports section for more coverage.
INSIDE Classified............................................20 Opinion.................................................8 Obituaries...........................................18 Real Estate..........................................15 Sports.................................................12
Inside Strip
Uniquely Personal Banking connecting you to
oakviewbank.com Member FDIC | (540) 359-7100