By Michael Copley
Staff writer

Joey Parrish, 17, Ethan Parrish, 24, and Stephanie Reynolds, 19, were in Powhatan General District Court last Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on charges related to the June 24 murder of 18-year-old Powhatan High School student Tahliek Taliaferro.

Stephanie Reynolds testified about the hours leading up to the murder, stating that she and the Parrish cousins had, in the early afternoon of June 24, eaten sugar cubes of LSD and gone swimming at Watkins Landing in Powhatan. According to testimony, the three also drank alcohol while they were at the river. They returned to Sheetz in Ethan Parrish’s white Dodge Durango to drop off two girls that had gone swimming with them and, at that point, encountered Taliaferro, Courtney Jones, Lawrence Harris, Tommie Williams, Kendall Trainum, and Kwamaine Marshall.

Courtney Jones testified that he, Taliaferro, and the other four played basketball at Powhatan High School that afternoon and had gone to Bruster’s, located directly adjacent to Sheetz in Flat Rock, for ice cream.

According to Stephanie Reynolds, one of the boys at Bruster’s made an aggressive move towards the car after Joey Parrish repeatedly rolled his window up and down.

“Someone ‘bucked’ at Joey and Ethan got mad,” said Reynolds. “Ethan and Joey started cussing and then Ethan pulled out a gun from between his feet and made like he was going to get out, but I grabbed him and told him not to.”

Courtney Jones, 15, testified that the younger Parrish started the altercation.

“Joey was yelling out of the back window at us, but nobody made a move towards their car.”

Court testimony indicated that before the three suspects left the Sheetz parking lot, Joey Parrish gave Taliaferro and his friends a directive: “Come on if you want to finish this.”

Stephanie Reynolds said that she and the Parrish cousins left Sheetz headed west on Route 60 when plans changed.

“Ethan hopped in the back of the car and was digging around for something,” testified Reynolds. “Then Ethan said, ‘Either you turn around or get out and I’ll drive.”

Reynolds made a U-turn on Route 60 and headed back in the direction of Dorset Road. Courtney Jones testified that he and his friends also turned around when they left Bruster’s just moments later, and followed the path of the white Durango down Dorset Rd.

“I figured they [Taliaferro and friends] would follow us,” said Stephanie Reynolds. “They said they were going to handle it.”

“No one said why we were turning around,” testified Jones, “but Tahliek said, ‘Let’s go fight them’.”

Lawrence Harris drove Taliaferro, Jones, and Tommie Williams in his car and Kwamaine Marshall and Kendall Trainum followed in a Ford Explorer.

The two cars trailed the Durango until it stopped at an angle on Dorset Road. near Schroeder Road.

“When I pulled over Ethan told Joey to put a plastic bag over the license plate,” said Reynolds. “Joey got back in as the other two cars were pulling up beside us.”

“Ethan was hanging out of the back driver’s side window with the assault rifle. Tahliek was just laughing at us, he wasn’t nervous — when he started laughing Ethan pulled the trigger.”

“I saw the back window go down and I saw a gun. Then it just started shooting,” said Jones. “I got down and then I looked and saw Tahliek laid over.”

Taliaferro was killed by a bullet to the head and Jones suffered serious injury when a bullet struck him in the back. Detective Kevin Wolfe recovered six shell casings from the scene.

After the shooting, Lawrence Harris drove his car down Schroeder Road and into a subdivision. Deputy Ronald Gotti was the first to arrive on the scene. He testified that Taliaferro was slumped over in the passenger seat and that there was a pistol at his feet. Upon examination, Gotti said he realized it was a BB gun.

Stephanie Reynolds testified that after the shooting she and the Parrish cousins drove into Amelia and parked Ethan Parrish’s Durango behind a friend’s house.

“When we got out of the car, Ethan asked what had just happened,” said Reynolds.

Judge Valentine W. Southall Jr. determined that the Commonwealth had demonstrated probable cause against Ethan and Joey Parrish for all charges against them and certified the case to an October grand jury.

Stephanie Reynolds was granted testimonial immunity Wednesday, meaning that her words cannot be used as evidence against her.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Beasley asked for a continuance on Reynolds’s charges, moving her next court date back to Nov. 5.