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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Evelyn H. Moore
Vol. XXVII No. 40
October 16, 2013
Powhatan supervisors support RAMPO change See 2A
Food, Friends and Fun Powhatan seniors enjoy annual picnic hosted by Parks & Recreation
See 5A
Library book sale on Oct. 24 See 6A
Return to normalcy Family getting back to routine one year after devastating fire By Ben Orcutt News Editor
M
By Ben Orcutt
elinda Crotts thought that Oct. 1 – the oneyear anniversary of the fire that destroyed her family’s home on Old Buckingham Road – was going to be a rough day. “I was very grateful,” said the 36year-old mother of six. “I figured that I would be upset. I figured I would be just kind of down and I wasn’t. I thought about my kids a lot [on Oct. 1]. I thought about people that have less than what we have. I really was grateful all day. “It could have been a one-year anniversary that I had lost one of my children. It could have been a oneyear anniversary that I had lost two of my children. Unfortunately it happens [to] other people and I’m sitting here worried about my wedding dress or I’m worried about my pictures or I’m worried about things that they’re sentimental to me, but nothing is more important than my children.” The fortunate thing for the Crotts family was that no one was home when the blaze occurred between 9:30 and 10 a.m. on Oct. 1 of last year. A mail carrier, Crotts said it was her day off and she was running errands. Her husband Stephen, 37, was at work and five of their children – Austin, 15; Justin, 13; Madison, 10; Stephen, 9; and Dottie, 5 – were in school, while the youngest – 4-yearold Jordan – was with a babysitter. She was contacted by the fire
News Editor
see Normalcy page 4A
PHOTO BY BEN ORCUTT
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Middleton sentenced to 23 months
Melinda Crotts is grateful that none of her family members were killed or injured as the result of an Oct. 1, 2012, fire, at left, that destroyed their home on Old Buckingham Road. Shown are, in the photo above, from the top, she and four of her six children – Stephen, 9; Madison, 10, Dottie, 5; and Jordan, 4 – relax at their new home that was built on the same site.
A Chesterfield County man was sentenced last week in Powhatan County Circuit Court to 23 months of incarceration after pleading guilty to charges resulting from a May crash on U.S. 60 in Powhatan that claimed the lives of three of his sisters. Jerry B. Middleton, 53, of the 3000 block of Holridge Street in Chesterfield, pleaded guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter and no contest to one count of driving under the influence, second offense within five years. Judge Paul W. Cella accepted a plea agreement fashioned by Powhatan Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert B. Beasley Jr. and Richmond defense attorney Kevin D. Purnell. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Middleton was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each of the voluntary manslaughter charges, with all time suspended but one year, 10 months and 10 days. On the DUI charge, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with all but a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 Middleton days suspended. Cella said that state sentencing guidelines recommended a range of punishment from one year and 11 months to five years and two months, with the midpoint three years and six months of incarceration. The maximum punishment for each of the felony voluntary manslaughter charges is 10 years in prison and the maximum punishment for DUI second offense within 5 years, a misdemeanor, is 12 months in jail, with a mandatory minimum of 20 days, Cella said. Middleton will lose his driver’s license for three years and must pay a $500 fine as well, Cella added. Middleton is a former chief deputy with the Richmond Sheriff’s Office. In his evidential summary, Beasley said the crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. on May 4 when Middleton ran off the right side of U.S. 60 East just west of Batterson Road and the 2002 Lexus he was driving struck a tree, killing Middleton’s three sisters Shirley M. Smothers, 73, of the 1000 block of Andros Road, Richmond, was not wearing a seat see Middleton page 4A
Inside
Sports
Index
A1 Dover Johnston Jr. going strong at 95 Resident calls his electric scooter his ‘chariot,’ using it to get to May Memorial Baptist Church to do volunteer work
B1 Blessed Sacrament Huguenot defeats Fuqua School 34-7
Calendar Classified Crossword Horoscope Letters
A3 B8 A9 A9 A8
Obituaries Opinion Quotes Real Estate TV Listings
A7 A8 A2 A7 B4-5
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