This just in from PWC Chairman Corey Stewart:

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will vote this Tuesday March 3 on advertising a property tax rate. I am proposing a rate that will reduce tax bills for homeowners by an average of $548.00 (a 16 % reduction). I want to thank Supervisors Maureen Caddigan (Dumfries), Wally Covington (Brentsville) and John Stirrup (Gainesville) for joining me in supporting this tax relief.

This tax rate of $1.198 will support the County Executive’s proposed budget, which reduces government spending by $56 million compared to last fiscal year without cutting any of our uniformed police or fire and rescue personnel. The County Executive’s budget is responsible and sustainable. By focusing our resources, it allows us to protect vital county services while providing tax relief to you during these uncertain times.

To pass this tax reduction, we need at least five supervisors to vote this Tuesday in support of the $1.198 tax rate. Please email the Board at BOCS@pwcgov.org urging the whole Board to join Supervisors Stirrup, Covington, Caddigan and myself in supporting this rate and ensuring tax relief for you.

Please be sure to tune into Comcast Channel 23 or Verizon FIOS Channel 37 to see how your supervisor votes.

Accused double-murderer Xavier Pinckney has been ordered to be tried as an adult for the slayings of Jean and Jim Smith just before Christmas last year.

Unfortunately, the hearing was closed to reporters, so we still don’t know important aspects about Pinckney’s prior criminal history — such as his arrest to conviction ratio. The case will now go to a grand jury, so we will now have to wait until at least the next hearing after he is indicted to begin uncovering details of his past run-ins with the law.

I still firmly believe that someone fell down on the job along the way here and Pinckney should never have been out on the streets and free to murder in the first place. We’re going to keep monitoring this closely until we find out just which entity is responsible for keeping him on the loose, whether that be the Commonwealth’s Attorney office under Paul Ebert or the Prince William Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. We WILL find out and make sure that someone is held accountable so that they don’t turn loose the next Xavier Pinckney.

Remember those bumper stickers from 1996 that Mark Warner used in his senate race against John Warner — “Mark NOT John”? Well, residents of the 52nd Dist. may see some variation of that in the not too distant future.

It seems that efforts to recruit former PWC Chairman Sean Connaughton to run for the 52nd House of Delegates seat being vacated by RPV Chairman / Del. Jeff Frederick have fallen through. Sean had been until recently the U.S. Maritime Administrator in the Bush administration. Having only been out of office for about a week and a half or so, and not having been able to negotiate future employment while still serving as a presidential appointee, Sean is obviously busy tending to his career and family needs.

So, with Sean apparently out of the picture, three names quickly emerged on the GOP side — former Dumfries Town Council Member Rafael Lopez, Devon Gray and Amy Frederick, Jeff’s wife. The latest word is that Devon has decided not to jump in and has offered his support to Lopez. Meanwhile, all signs point to Amy forming an exploratory committee prior to committing to join the race (“Amy NOT Jeff” anyone?) And while a few people had inquired with me whether I had any interest in this race myself, I have explained to them that I didn’t and that the General Assembly’s schedule would not permit for me to continue with my current job which I love and am not willing to give up. Given that, I have offered my full support to Amy in this contest.

On the Dem side, Mike Hodge has already filed and Chris Brown is planning on running. However, rumblings are that the Dem leadership doesn’t really like either of them and are trying to throw them both under the bus in favor of Rev. Dr. Luke Torian, who is the pastor of First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries.

All this should make for an interesting contest on both sides and in the general election.

I hope that Amy decides after considering this race to enter it and do us proud in Richmond. She is intelligent, knows the issues and the needs of the constituents, is accomplished in her own right, and is very politically savvy. I believe that Amy would make an outstanding delegate.

This is a most fitting tribute to the life of Jean Smith that Prince William County is bestowing upon her memory. I applaud the Prince William County Park Authority for choosing to name the amphitheater after Jean.

As Marty Nohe put it:

“This is a very fitting memorial to Jean, given the family’s role in the community and interest in the arts,” said Prince William County Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles). “Jean was a community activist, and I think it is wonderful the Park Authority is naming something after her.”

. . .

“She was the world’s greatest stage mother, always supporting her kids and other kids,” Nohe said. “She was active in the performing arts and how they relate to young people. The amphitheater was the kind of thing Jean would always be very excited about.”

And Jean’s daughter Sarah said:

“I think this is perfect, and she always loved the amphitheater,” said Sarah Smith, 22. “She lived there for a month every summer helping me when I directed drama camp. We would sit and daydream together about what kind of concerts we could have at the amphitheater. We always wanted to open it up for more youth and teen productions.”

It is a tragedy that Jean and her son won’t be there for those productions, but I am certain that they will be watching over them from above.

Accused double-murderer Xavier Pinckney has had his court hearing postponed until Feb. 18th. I guess we will have to wait until then possibly to hear whether he was convicted previously of only a single crime despite multiple arrests as was implied by the police in a recent article.

We will continue to watch this and ask why Virginia’s juvenile justice system failed Jean and Jim Smith as well as shine a bright light on anyone who may have been responsible for this thug being let loose on our streets.

From today’s News & Messenger:

As investigators wrangle with how a 17-year-old with a record of small crimes turned into an alleged cold-blooded killer, police say they’re investigating whether accused killer Xavier Pinckney had gang ties in his Dale City neighborhood.

. . .

When police checked Pinckney’s record they learned he had a prior conviction for grand larceny from a burglary. He had also been arrested for committing daytime burglaries in houses with doors or windows left open around his neighborhood, said court documents.

Take note, they only refer to ONE conviction, but state that he was arrested for MULTIPLE other crimes. What about those other arrests? Was he not tried? Was he not convicted? Is this yet ANOTHER instance where Paul Ebert’s Commonwealth’s Attorney office botched prosecutions or else let things slide because they couldn’t be bothered?

As Timothy Watson pointed out in a comment on Virginia Virtucon:

It’s damn sad that Prince William, Manassas, and Manassas Park only have 31.52% of persons charged with felonies actually being sentenced on felonies.

The rest either had their charges dropped (nolle prossed) or reduced to misdemeanors.

Ebert’s office barely ranks above those offices that have part-time Commonwealth’s Attorneys.

http://www.scb.virginia.gov/docs/ratio.pdf

The more one reads about Pinckney’s criminal history, the more one realizes that Jean and Jim Smith did not have to die. Had someone, ANYONE — a prosecutor, a judge or someone involved in the juvenile justice system — been doing their job, Pinckney would not have been out on the streets and free to murder.

We will continue raising these questions until the community gets answers, no matter how uncomfortable it makes any public official who may be involved in this travesty. I have already corresponded with Delegates Jeff Frederick and Bob Marshall and contacted Scott Lingamfelter as well to see what they might be able to do in the upcoming General Assembly session to start getting us the answer that we need and enact any necessary reforms that they might see fit. No family should ever have to go through what the Smiths have had to endure. The justice system failed them. We cannot allow it to fail another family.

On a final note, I have an answer to this:

investigators wrangle with how a 17-year-old with a record of small crimes turned into an alleged cold-blooded killer

Simple. He was allowed to get away with relative slaps on the wrist for his prior crimes, so of course his crime spree would progress to more major things. No one should be surprised by that. We as a society need to come to the conclusion that once a juvenile commits a second offense, we should stop treating them as an “at risk” youth and start treating THEM as a “risk” to the community’s public safety. Only then can we truly begin to fix our broken juvenile justice system.

This past Saturday, Prince William County paid tribute to two of its most outstanding citizens who were lost recently — victims of our broken juvenile justice system that installed a revolving door for the thug that murdered them. While that is a topic for another post (or more likely a whole series of posts until we get answers AND reforms), we should now look for ways in which we can honor these two individuals — Jean Smith and her son Jim Smith.

One way that you can do so is by making a donation to the following two funds in remembrance of these two wonderful people:

In remembrance of Jean Smith:
Jean Claire Smith Memorial Fund for the Performing Arts.

Mail in c/o:
Ms. Carolyn Custard, Principal
CD Hylton High School
14051 Spriggs Road
Woodbridge, VA 22193.

In remembrance of Jean’s son Jim please consider making a donation to:
James Marshall Smith Memorial Fund which will be held in trust for Connor’s and Liam’s education.

Mail in c/o:
Mrs. Leigh Danby
13861 Meadowbrook Road
Woodbridge, VA 22193

One other way in which our community should memorialize Jean Smith is by naming a county school after her. Education was such a passion for this woman, the sort of passion for learning that we should be instilling in all of our students.

Click here to send an email to all PWC School Board Members and respectfully request that they consider naming a county school after Jean. I can think of no greater honor to bestow upon her and her memory than to hold her up as an example to our young people.

Yesterday, I raised the following questions about Xavier Pinckney after PWC Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert stated that Pinckney was “known to law enforcement.”

So, was this suspect someone who the police should have already had locked up (or at least in juvenile detention) for a previous crime? Did the Commonwealth’s Attorney office botch a prior prosecution of him or were they lenient with him because he was a juvenile? In short, was there something that could have been done that would have placed the suspect in such a position where he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to commit these murders?

Today’s WashPo raises the stakes with regard to those questions:

Police credited tips from the neighborhood and old-fashioned mug shots — the juvenile had a history of burglaries in the area, they said — for the quick arrest.

. . .

The suspect, who authorities said has several criminal convictions, is due in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Jan. 12.

. . .

Police then searched for the criminal records of people who live in the neighborhood — focusing on burglaries — and showed a photo spread to witnesses, who ultimately identified the suspect.

History of burglaries? Several criminal convictions? There is just one question that NEEDS to be asked and answered here — why was Xavier Pinckney free to murder Jean and Jim Smith?

It sounds as if the police were doing their job with regard to this suspect, having arrested him on multiple occasions. That leaves just a few possibilities:

1. The Commonwealth of Virginia’s juvenile justice system is woefully inadequate and doesn’t provide for tougher sentencing for repeat offenders like Pinckney.

2. The judges in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (or General District Court if his cases were handed up to them) were too lenient with Pinckney when they sentenced him for his prior convictions.

3. The Commonwealth’s Attorney office, despite winning convictions of Pinckney, didn’t push for tougher sentencing despite his continuing crime spree.

4. A combination of these factors.

For whatever reason or reasons, Pinckney was not in a juvenile detention facility where it sounds as if he should have belonged. Had he been locked up in a juvenile detention facility rather than free and going to Hylton High School, he would not have had the opportunity to murder Jean and Jim Smith.

Prince William County residents DESERVE ANSWERS! Why was Xavier Pinckney free to murder Jean and Jim Smith?

There will be what is called an Irish Wake at the Holy Family Gym from 4-7:30 pm. For the Wake, please park in the following places:

Please do not park in the first or second tiers (only for the Wake) so that there is room for people attending Mass to park.

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In remembrance to Jean’s son Jim please consider making a donation to:
James Marshall Smith Memorial Fund which will be held in trust for Connor’s and Liam’s education. Mail in c/o: Mrs. Leigh Danby, 13861 Meadowbrook Road, Woodbridge, VA 22193

The News & Messenger reports that police have arrested 17 year-old Xavier Pinckney for the murders of Jean and Jim Smith as well as Pinckney’s 22 year-old girlfriend Jacqueline Munoz for obstruction of justice for providing him with a false alibi. According to the N&M, Pinckney lives in the same neighborhood. 411.com has a listing for a Pinckney on Langstone Drive, which is the next street over.

Accused murderer Xavier Pinckney and his girlfriend Jacqueline Munoz

PWC Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert is seeking to have Pinckney stand trial as an adult and wants to upgrade the murder charges to capital murder. Unfortunately, on March 1, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling held that the death penalty for 16 and 17 year-olds was unconstitutional, reversing a 1989 ruling that had upheld it. That said, Ebert’s move should ensure that this dirtbag never sees the light of day again in his miserable (and one can only hope extremely short) life. Not that I wouldn’t mind seeing this case serve as a challenge to the 2004 ruling which relied upon a so-called “national consensus” against the practice and a “desire to end the United States’ international isolation on the issue” rather than the Constitution.

Now this next part is interesting and raises questions for me:

Ebert would not say if the teen has a criminal record, but did say he “was known to law enforcement.”

So, was this suspect someone who the police should have already had locked up (or at least in juvenile detention) for a previous crime? Did the Commonwealth’s Attorney office botch a prior prosecution of him or were they lenient with him because he was a juvenile? In short, was there something that could have been done that would have placed the suspect in such a position where he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to commit these murders? Given that juvenile arrest records and court proceedings are sealed, we may never know the answer to those questions.

What is done is done and this piece of garbage has stolen two shining lights from this world. May Jean and Jim rest in peace with our Heavenly Father. May God comfort their family and friends. And may their murderer experience eternal justice…