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Man, teen indicted in separate murder cases
The teen will be tried as an adult because the victim died during a robbery. The man is fighting extradition.
By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published August 10, 2006
NEW PORT RICHEY - A grand jury indicted two men on first-degree murder charges Tuesday, one of them a Dade City teen accused of fatally shooting a man in the face. Walter Jamal Vickers, 16, will be tried as an adult in the shooting death of Felipe DeJesus-Reyes, 48, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office made that decision, Bartlett said, because of the teen's criminal record and because the victim, whose body was found in Tommytown on July 18, died during a robbery. Vickers, who attended Wesley Chapel High School, could get life in prison if convicted. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled juveniles cannot be put to death. Two counts of first-degree murder were issued against Christopher Cheatham, 33, said Bartlett. Cheatham is accused of fatally shooting Theodore Skarupski, 35, and George Martin Jr., 25, on July 10 in Hudson and was arrested 10 days later at an Alabama motel. If convicted, Cheatham could get life in prison or the death penalty. He is fighting extradition, but Bartlett said he expects Cheatham eventually will be returned to Pasco to stand trial.
[Last modified August 9, 2006, 22:56:45]
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