FINNERTY HEADED TO NOKESVILLE: After seven successful years at Liberty, Sean Finnerty is coming to Patriot. Sports, Page 11
December 19, 2018 | Vol. 17, No. 51 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Judge sentences 21-year-old to life in prison for murders of YouthQuest counselors Program for at-risk young adults operated in Lake Ridge apartments By Amanda Heincer Times Staff Writer
A 21-year-old will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2016 murders of two youth-support counselors at his independent living program in Lake Ridge, a Prince William Circuit Court judge ruled Friday. At a Dec. 14 sentencing hearing, Judge Tracy Hudson sentenced Ronald Francis Dorsey to two consecutive life sentences for the murders of Lizeth Lopez, 36, and Erica Hickson, 37. The women were counselors at YouthQuest, an independent-living program for at-risk young adults transitioning out of foster care and juvenile-justice system. It was housed in the Dominion Middle Ridge apartment complex on Creekview Circle in Lake Ridge but shuttered shortly after the Dorsey was arrested for the murders in August 2016.
The women were killed about three months apart. Dorsey was a 19-yearold resident of one of the YouthQuest apartments at the time, authorities said. Dorsey pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in July 2017. His sentencing hearing was once delayed so a forensic psychologist could prepare Ronald Francis Dorsey a report in the case. At the hearing, two family members of the victims -- Lopez’s mother and Hickson’s son -- gave emotional testimony about the impact their loved ones’ deaths have had on their families. “I’m unable to accept still the absence of my
daughter,” Lopez’s mother, Gladys Lopez said, testifying through a Spanish-language interpreter. Lopez read a written statement to the judge, the paper in her hands visibly shaking at times as she spoke. “She was the best sister, aunt, friend and person,” Lopez said of her daughter. “She was always wanting to help and in doing that, she lost her life.” “She had dreams of her own, of having her own home, children, a family, and none of that came about because of the hands of a murderer. All of her hopes have been truncated,” Lopez said. Nathaniel Hickson, Erica Hickson’s son, said his mother’s death, which happened during his senior year of high school, has affected him “in the worst way.” See DORSEY, page 5
What to do about Virginia’s coal ash? Debate about Dominion’s legacy waste stretches into a third year By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
There’s still more than 4 million cubic yards of toxic coal ash sitting outside Dominion’s Possum Point power plant, and for the third year in a row, Sen. Scott Surovell says he will spend the upcoming session of the Virginia General Assembly trying to thwart the utility’s plan to leave it there forever under a controversial disposal plan opponents call “cap in place.”
Surovell, D-36th, held a town hall meeting about the status of coal-ash cleanup efforts at Dumfries Elementary School Dec. 12. About 60 area residents showed up to hear the latest on the coal ash ponds, which have been the subject of much debate since Dominion announced its plans back in 2015 to close the ponds in accordance with then-new U.S. Environmental See COAL ASH, page 4 INSIDE Calendar.............................................15 Classified............................................18 Lifestyle..............................................13 Obituaries...........................................17
PHOTO CREDIT ROGER SNYDER
This photo, taken in April 2018, shows the work Dominion has done to consolidate its 4 million cubic yards of coal ash at Possum Point into a single pond. The utility has been digging up ash and moving it into “pond D,” top left, since 2015.
Opinion.................................................9 Puzzle Page........................................10 Real Estate..........................................16 Sports.................................................11
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