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Despite family pleas, teen gets 2 life sentences

He was convicted of killing one man and leaving another seriously injured during a reported $100 marijuana deal gone sour.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published July 9, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - One by one, Randolph Wang's family - mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother - told a judge Friday of the young man they knew before their worlds came crashing down.

How the 18-year-old grandson of a Chinese army general and son of a veteran state employee never missed a day of elementary school. How he cleaned his grandmother's apartment and took her to the doctor without complaint. How he worked hard to overcome a learning disability.

But the things they didn't know, or didn't want to believe, led Circuit Judge Joe Bulone to sentence the Trinity teenager to concurrent life sentences for killing one man and seriously injuring another in September.

Wang, of 1733 Percheron Drive in Trinity Oaks, shot 18-year-old Charles "Barry" Smith III and Craig Blanchard, 19, when a drug deal soured in the Publix parking lot off Sunray Drive in Holiday. Smith died four days after the Sept. 26 shooting; Blanchard suffered nerve damage.

"Double life is great," Smith's grandmother, Veronica Lagana, said after Friday's sentencing. "But it's still not going to bring Barry back."

During the three-hour hearing, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis portrayed Wang as a kid who rejected all his parents had given and taught him for a drug dealer's life. He grew up in a nice house, attended Mitchell High School, one of Pasco's best, and drove a car provided by his parents, the prosecutor said.

"He didn't have to sell drugs, did he?" Halkitis asked James Wang, Randolph's father.

"No," replied Wang, a computer system analyst for the Department of Children and Families.

"Has he ever told you he wants to apologize to the mother of Charles Smith for taking her son's life?" Halkitis asked Theresa Wang, Randolph's mother.

"He's 18. It's up to him," she said. "Everybody's equally responsible."

"So he's still blaming Charles Smith for causing his own death?" Halkitis retorted.

"No, he blames himself for being there," she said.

In May, a jury convicted Randolph Wang of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery. During the weeklong trial, Wang said he fired a .38-caliber revolver in self-defense after Smith flashed a knife during a disputed drug sale.

Authorities never found the gun. None of the other young men at the scene recalled seeing a knife, they testified. Robert Maniatis, 17, said he and Smith were unarmed and just running away with $100 worth of marijuana when Wang gunned Smith down.

Donald Harrison, Wang's attorney, acknowledged his client deserved punishment. But not because he was a bad guy, the defense attorney said.

"It's a tragedy of young people doing stupid things," he said. "We can't throw Randy away and lock him up like a rabid dog. This is a man who is worth saving."

The judge disagreed.

"You were disrespected in front of your comrades," Bulone said. "The action that you took was to act like a tough guy.

"You've devastated the family of Barry Smith and Craig Blanchard, and you've devastated your own family. And all of this for what? A few grams of marijuana."

Bulone pulled out a stack of papers, the presentencing investigation that probation officers assembled to help the judge better understand Wang's background. He read from the report. This time, he agreed with the explanation.

"This is not a case of a troubled teen," the report stated. "This is a case of a teen who looked for trouble."

Colleen Jenkins covers courts in west Pasco County. She can be reached at 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. Her e-mail is cjenkins@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 01:02:12]