Virginia man bound over in cross country abduction of girl
A Virginia judge on Tuesday sent to a grand jury the case against a man accused of abducting a 12-year-old girl whose mother was later found dead.
Roanoke County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Philip Trompeter found probable cause during a preliminary hearing for Jeffrey Scott Easley, who is accused of taking the girl across the country before being spotted outside a San Francisco supermarket.
The judge also denied Easley's bond request, Roanoke County spokeswoman Teresa Hall said.
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Abduction charge certified against Jeffrey Easley
A judge has certified the abduction charge against Easley and next the case will go to a grand jury.
Easley is accused of taking 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith back in December after her mother, Tina, was found bound and beaten to death in her bedroom.
Some new information about the case came out in the preliminary hearing, but not nearly as much as was expected, although it was enough for a juvenile and domestic judge to find probable cause to move the abduction charge forward.
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Charges against Jeffrey Easley move forward
A Roanoke County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge certifies the felony abduction charge against Jeffrey Easley. Easley is accused of taking 12-year-old Brittany Smith across the country, after her mother's death. The grand jury is expected to take up the abduction charge on April 1.
We heard details of Tina Smith's murder for the first time, during Easley's preliminary hearing. An investigator testified Smith's body was found in a bedroom of her Ft. Lewis Circle home, bound with cord. He stated her hands were swollen and there were red stains about her head. The investigator stopped short of saying how Tina Smith died.
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