The Louisa County Public School division is holding a closing ceremony to honor the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School building, and to celebrate all of the memories that have been experienced during the past 58 years. It will also be a time for the community to say goodbye to a building that is special and holds historical significance to each and every Louisa County resident as it has also been used as A.G. Richardson High School, Z.C. Morton Elementary, Louisa Intermediate School and Louisa Middle School.

The ceremony will be held at the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School site (1782 Jefferson Highway, Louisa, VA) on Friday, May 11 at 5 p.m. During the event there will be guest speakers reminiscing about the many memories that took place in the building, and attendees will also have an opportunity to write down their favorite memories which will be used later in the new school.

Demolition of the Thomas Jefferson Elementary building will take place in June, and once the process is completed community members will have an opportunity to obtain a brick from the structure. The brick pick-up will take place in July at the school site on 1782 Jefferson Highway, Louisa, VA. More information will be released once the details are finalized.

BY PORTSIA SMITH
Forensic evidence and the testimony of a man who survived being shot in the chest five times led to a guilty verdict against a Louisa County man.

D. Robinson

Devonne Tyrell Robinson, 23, was convicted in Louisa Circuit Court Thursday of malicious wounding, shooting at an occupied vehicle and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. His trial lasted five hours.
On Nov. 6, deputies arrived just after midnight at a location in the 5800 block of Buckner Road where a birthday party had taken place.
Robinson was accused of approaching Carlos Anderson, 31, and shooting him in the chest five times. Anderson returned fire and shot Robinson twice in the arm, said Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire.

A 20-year-old female bystander was also struck in the arm, police said.
During the trial, Anderson testified that he and his friends were getting in his car when an altercation started. He said Robinson shot him for no apparent reason.
All four witnesses defense attorney Richard Harry put on the stand testified that Robinson shot in self-defense after being shot first.

But according to Louisa Detective Mark Stanton, the forensic evidence was completely consistent with the victim’s version of events.
Stanton, a certified forensic technician and one of only 55 law enforcement personnel in Virginia that has earned a crime certification from the International Association for Identification, testified about the trajectory of the bullets and the casings he found at the scene and in the vehicle.
While handing down the verdict, Judge Timothy Sanner said “the defense version of the case is wholly inconsistent with the forensic evidence and appeared made up to create a self-defense argument.”
Robinson faces 33 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 16.

BY PORTSIA SMITH

A Spotsylvania County man is dead after police say he dared his friend to jump off of a bridge in Louisa County.

Detective Mark Stanton of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office said the 55-year-old victim and a 28-year-old man, also from Spotsylvania, were driving around for about four hours on Tuesday.

Stanton said both men had been drinking.

Around 5 p.m., the 55-year-old driver parked the vehicle near the Moody Town Canal Bridge, which is over Lake Anna.
The two men walked to the center of the bridge, not far from where Stanton said there are two signs that

Moody Town Road bridge

prohibit jumping or fishing from the bridge.

“The older male climbed up on the guardrail and challenged the younger male to ‘come on, let’s jump—on the count of three.’”

He said the older man counted to three, but neither of them jumped.

The second time, he counted to three, the older man took the 35-foot jump, but the younger man stayed on the bridge, Stanton said.

Time passed and the younger man didn’t see his friend come up to the surface. He later spotted him on the other side of the bridge motionless.

The younger man told police he went back to the eastern side of the bridge and climbed down the embankment.

“He waded out into the water waist-deep and pulled his friend to shore,” Stanton said. “He saw that his friend wasn’t breathing and tried doing CPR.”

Police say the bridge is about 35 feet above water.

Rescue personnel arrived within seven minutes after he called 911. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

The man, whose identity has not been released pending notification of kin, was pronounced dead at 5:27 p.m.

The Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond has not given an official cause of death yet, but police are saying the man suffered from cardiac arrest.

Friends described the man as a good swimmer.

Stanton said there was no external trauma noted and no foul play is suspected.

Police hope that this tragedy reminds citizens about the dangers of bridge-jumping.

Portsia Smith:  540/374-5419
psmith@fredericksburg.com

Pres release:

Benefit for Louisa Earthquake Victims

LOUISA, VA –The B2B (Back to Basics) Bluegrass Festival May 5 and 6 at Small Country Campground will benefit the Louisa Earthquake Relief Fund, helping the …people in Louisa who lost their homes or had heavy damage during the 2011 earthquake, biggest in more than a century on the East Coast. The Festival will feature nearly a dozen regional bands who are volunteering their time and talent.

Music, food and vendors will be entertaining the crowd at this down home, back to basics festival. Tickets are $25 for Saturday, $15 for Sunday, or $30 for the weekend, available at 540-967-2431. Camping spaces are still available.

Bands will include such well-known local and regional groups as: Country Poor Bluegrass Band, Country Proud, Dixie Hill Grass, Gary Shifflett & the Shenandoah Shakers, Grass & Eclectic Co., Grassland, Long Mountain Grass, The James River Cutups, The Little Mountain Boys, The Parlor Soldiers, and more.

Food vendors will be serving barbeque, hamburgers and hot dogs, kettle corn, ice cream, homemade donuts and specialty coffee, and more. Other vendors will have a variety of items for sale.

The schedule of bands for the two-day event is posted on the B2B Facebook page. Details and directions are available at www.smallcountry.com.

Community tips led to the wherabouts of a local woman who was wanted by Louisa County authorities for making courthouse bomb threats to avoid appearing in court.

Danielle Messineo

Danielle Antoinette Messineo, 39, of Harper Drive in Orange County was arrested Wednesday after tips were received at the Louisa sheriff’s office and the anonymous Louisa County Crimesolvers line.
“After tips were received, all leads were investigated and then an attempt to locate was sent to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and officers made multiple visits and located Danielle Messineo,” according to a new release from the Louisa sheriff’s office.
Messineo had been scheduled to appear in Louisa General District Court March 13 on a bad-check charge, but a bomb threat was received that day and the courthouse was evacuated, according to Louisa officials. Authorities said an investigation revealed that the threat came from a phone belonging to Messineo.

Messineo was arrested the same day and sent to the Central Virginia Regional Jail. She was later released on a $10,000 secured bond. When she failed to show up in court March 20, a warrant was issued for her arrest.

A previous investigation tied Messineo to bomb threats in three localities.

After a bomb threat was made against the Louisa General District Court on Aug. 4, 2011, Louisa detectives launched an investigation. The probe led to contact with detectives from Orange and Culpeper counties who were investigating similar bomb threats in their jurisdictions.

A meeting was arranged between detectives Mark Stanton of Louisa, Amy Ressler of Orange and W.O. Hayes of Culpeper to compare the cases. They discovered that Messineo was scheduled to be in court in each of the localities on the days the threats were made.
Deputies were prepared to expect a bomb threat on March 13, and arrested Messineo. Since she was released, however, authorities have not been able to find her until Wednesday.
In Louisa, she is charged with two counts of threatening to bomb or burn a building, failure to appear and writing a bad check.
She is being held without bond at Central Virginia Regional Jail and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

• Commission on Aging – Three (3) year term. Meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m.
• Health Center Commission – Four (4) year term. Meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m.
• Human Services Advisory Board – Four (4) year term. Meets on the second Thursday every other month at 3:30 p.m.
• Jefferson Area Disability Service Board – Three (3) year term. Meets on the third Monday bi-monthly at 10:30 a.m.
• Transportation Safety Commission – Three (3) year term.
• Piedmont Workforce Network – Three (3) year term.

Interested citizens should send a brief cover letter and area of interest to:

County of Louisa
Citizen Committees
P. O. Box 160
Louisa, Virginia 23093
fax (540) 967-3411
email vmahler@louisa.org

BY PORTSIA SMITH

Two juveniles are being held for a brutal attack on two men in Louisa County earlier this month.
On April 9, Louisa deputies responded to the parking lot of the Glen Marye Shopping Center in the Town of Louisa around 11:30 p.m. for a complaint of an attempted armed robbery and malicious wounding.
The two male victims, ages 18 and 20, reported to police that they were standing in the parking lot when a gray GM pickup truck with large chrome wheels pulled up to where they are standing.
The victims told police that two males, armed with handguns and wearing black bandanas, got out of thier truck and demanded money from them.
Both victims said in a victim impact statement that they suffered injuries from being beaten by the two gunman.
One of the victims said he was struck by a handgun and knocked unconscious, sustaining a concussion and a hairline fracture of his jaw.
No money or property was stolen, but the gunmen fled in the truck, police said.
The next day, Maj. Donnie Lowe spotted a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle. The two 16-year-old male occupants of the truck were questioned by detectives.
The teenagers were detained on April 12 and are being held at the Rappahannock Juvenile Detention Center for malicious wounding, attempted armed robbery, brandishing a firearm and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Investigators recovered two pellet pistols and numerous items of evidence from the suspect’s vehicle and homes, police said.
The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Louisa Town Police Department and the Louisa County Fire & EMS.

Got unused, unwanted and expired prescription and over-the-counter drugs?

On Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., bring your medications for disposal to the:

• Food Lion, Main Street, Louisa Va.,

• Food Lion 11010 Kentucky Springs Road, Mineral Va 23117,

• Walmart 164 Camp Creek Pkwy. Gordonsville (Zion Crossroads) Va.,

The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

It is part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug“Take-Back” Day, an effort to discourage pill abuse, theft and hazardous disposal.

Americans that participated in the DEA’s third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on October 29, 2011, turned in more than 377,086 pounds (188.5 tons) of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at the 5,327 take-back sites that were available in all 50 states and U.S. territories.

When the results of the three prior Take-Back Days are combined, the DEA, and its state, local, and tribal law-enforcement and community partners have removed 995,185 pounds (498.5 tons) of medication from circulation in the past 13 months.

For details and locations, see www.deadiversion. usdoj.gov/takeback/ index.html.

According to Virginia Lottery officials, Daniel and Kathy (no last name given) of Louisa County won $5,000 in Friday night’s Pick 4 drawing.

Daniel and Kathy of Louisa County won $5,000 in Friday night's Pick 4 drawing.