Decision due back in case of mob fight

By Nate Delesline III

Published: May 20, 2008

A jury will decide today the fate of a Culpeper teen accused of involvement in a large fight that left three injured last summer.

Joshua J. Ravenel, 18, faces a felony malicious wounding charge and two misdemeanor assault charges in the incident.

Along with four others, Ravenel is accused of involvement in the July 4, 2007 fight, which began at Yowell Meadow Park and then spread to a residence on nearby Virginia Avenue.

On Monday, a jury of five men and seven women heard about three and a half hours of testimony from 12 witnesses, including Ravenel.

Four witnesses called by the commonwealth — Antwaine Morhead, John Richardson, Ashaad Ferebee and Tierre Jamal “T.J.” Smith — testified that either Ravenel or his friends had harassed them prior to the July 4 incident and again before the fight broke out that evening.

Circuit Court Judge John R. Cullen rejected a motion by Ravenel’s defense attorney Kevin Smith to dismiss the felony charge. Cullen cited medical records and photographs presented by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney David Barredo as proof of the severity of T.J. Smith’s injuries.

Morhead said that he attempted to ignore Ravenel and the group when they confronted him earlier that day. But later that evening, Morhead said, Ravenel and a group of about 40 people approached a residence in the 700 block of Virginia Avenue and demanded again to fight them.

“Basically, they were saying, ‘Let’s get it over with,’” Morhead told the court, adding that the group said they weren’t going to leave unless they fought. Morhead then testified that Ravenel threw the first punch, hitting T.J. Smith.

Walter J. Ferebee, who is Ashaad Ferebee’s father and owner of the home where the fight occurred, told the court that a commotion drew his attention to the front of the house, away from friends and a holiday barbeque he was hosting in the backyard.

“I just saw what looked like an endless amount of people,” he said. “When I stepped out, they were engaged in beating my son.

“There was yelling and screaming … I was screaming. I had never seen anything like it in my life,” Ferebee said.

Ferebee also said that despite witnessing the attacks, he did not become physically involved, fearing he would be charged with assaulting a juvenile.

John Richardson, who is Morhead’s brother, testified that he was also attacked on Virginia Avenue.

“We all got stomped out,” he said. “There were at least five or six people on each and every one of us.” Richardson also said that one of the attackers, whom he identified as Spicy Penn, was wielding a two-by-four.

Barredo also called two Culpeper police officers, Sgt. Jason Deal, and Lt. Chris Settle, to testify.

Deal, the first officer to arrive at the scene, said that he had seen Ravenel earlier that day at the park wearing a white T-shirt.

Throughout the commonwealth’s case, the defense raised objections when the words “mob” and “gang” were used to describe the various groups.

Ravenel, who took the stand near the end of the proceedings, admitted that he has a “very bad history” with the other parties.

However, he testified that he was not on Virginia Avenue that night.

The defense also called two others — Ravenel’s girlfriend and his mother — to verify his account of the evening.

Two of the other teens in the case entered plea deals in February. A third was found guilty in January and sentenced in March. The fifth teen accused is due in court in August.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .