Drugs played role in deputy shooting

By JIM TALBERT\Staff

TAZEWELL – Drugs apparently played a role in the shooting of a Tazewell County deputy and the armed robbery of two stores in October.
Evidence presented during the Dec. 14 preliminary hearing for Scottie Stinson, 27, of Bandy, Wallace Kinder, 34, of Cedar Bluff and Tracy Coxton, 32 of Tazewell, indicated that the need for money to buy pills was a motive for the robberies.
All three were charged with attempted capital murder and Stinson was additionally charged with the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The charges were certified to the grand jury by District Judge Jack S. Hurley Jr.
Eric Mullins, the deputy who was shot during a traffic stop on U.S. Route 460 Oct. 23 said Scottie Stinson was the man that fired two shots at him.
Mullins said he spotted a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero near Happy Mart after hearing an alert for a vehicle fitting that description that was involved in two armed robberies. Mullins said he followed the SUV from Happy Mart to an area near Exit 3 in Bluefield.
Mullins said three people were in the vehicle – a man in the driver’s seat, another man in the rear seat on the passenger side and a female in the front passenger’s seat. He said the driver rolled down his window as he approached the car and asked for a driver’s license.
After the driver indicated he did not have a license, Mullins told him to stay there and went back to his cruiser to wait for backup. He said Officer Josh Wright of the Bluefield Police Department arrived within three or four minutes.
Mullins testified that when he and Mullins approached the vehicle the driver pointed a pistol out the window and he heard two shots. He said one bullet struck him in the lower right side of his abdomen and the other in his right hand.
Mullins identified Scottie Stinson as the shooter. He said he heard several gunshots after falling in the ditch but could not say who fired him. The deputy said he saw little movement from either of the passengers in the car.
Special Agent John Santolla of the Virginia State Police testified later that he worked the crime scene and discovered a .22-caliber slug in the protective vest worn by Mullins. Santolla said there was also blood on the right side of the vest. Santolla said he discovered a baseball cap and a jacket matching a description of those worn by one of the defendants at a secondary crime scene where the vehicle was abandoned.
Santolla said that he questioned Stinson after he was captured and Stinson said he was responsible for both the robberies and shot Mullins. He said Stinson indicated he did not mean to hurt anyone and was relieved that Mullins was not seriously hurt.
He said Stinson said he fired at the officer because he and the other defendants were scared and did not want to go back to jail. He said they abandoned the Mitsubishi near a doctor’s office and hid in the woods.
They used a cell phone to call his and Coxton’s mother and she picked them up and took them to a trailer in Mercer County.
After securing a truck, the group traveled to North Carolina. Wallace Kinder reportedly had family there but the man had already heard of the charges and would not let them stay.  Santolla said the three and Roxie Short traveled to Sullivan County, Tenn., to stay with friends but were again turned away.
They were reportedly staying in the truck in a campground near Abingdon and had gone out to use the phone when they were captured. Special Agent B.J. Sbard of the Virginia State Police testified that he questioned Coxton about the events leading to the robberies and shooting.
He said Coxton said they needed money to buy pills and she talked her brother, (Stinson), and Kinder into going to Wal-Mart in an attempt to steal a purse. She said they were unable to do that and headed to Richlands.
Sbard said Coxton gave conflicting statements about who robbed the DoubleKwik at Claypool Hill and 67 Grocery in Richlands. He said she originally stated she talked Kinder into doing it. She later said her brother robbed the stores. Detective Dave Mills of the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office testified that he investigated the robbery of the DoubleKwik at Claypool Hill and later questioned Wallace Kinder after the three were captured. Mills said Kinder denied any knowledge of the robberies or the shooting.
Mills said he believed Kinder robbed the DoubleKwik because of the video from the store and from the Wal-Mart. He said the person who entered the DoubleKwik was closer in size to Kinder than to Stinson.
He said that person’s face can’t be seen but their clothes resemble the ones Kinder is wearing in video he obtained from Wal-Mart. 
Hurley certified the charge of attempted capital murder against all three defendants to the Jan. 8 term of grand jury. Roxie Short is also charged with attempted capital murder but her preliminary hearing was delayed.
All of the defendants had robbery and other charges against them certified during the November term of grand jury. Prior to the start of the preliminary hearing on the attempted capital murder the judge granted a motion changing counsel for Kinder.
Richard Forrester, who had been appointed to serve Kinder, was allowed to withdraw from the case after Kinder’s family retained Tom Scott.