Published: September 23, 2008 05:07 pm            

Woodson pleads, is sentenced in Powellton case

One of three co-defendants pleaded guilty to malicious assault and was sentenced last week by Fayette County Circuit Judge John Hatcher for his part in an incident that took place in Powellton last October.

Zachariah Neal Woodson, 20, of Scarbro, was sentenced to two to 10 years behind bars, assistant prosecutor Brian Parsons explained. Woodson will not be eligible for parole, however, for at least three years due to the fact that he used a gun in the crime, Parsons added.

Woodson was already incarcerated for a bond violation prior to Monday’s sentencing. His co-defendants in the case are Hewitt Melvin “Hillbilly” Grasty, 51, of Mount Hope, and Tony Jean Walker, 31, of Oak Hill.

Walker has already pleaded to other charges and is in prison now, Parsons noted, while Grasty is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 1 in Hatcher’s courtroom.

The three were originally indicted in January for attempted murder, malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

A 17-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the leg in the incident, Sheriff Bill Laird reported at the time. The three suspects had fled the scene and were intercepted by Montgomery police officers at the intersection of W.Va. 61 and Armstrong Creek Road shortly afterward.

Officers observed a firearm being thrown from the vehicle as a pursuit continued on W.Va. 61 toward Deepwater.

The vehicle was wrecked in the Robson area, Laird said. One suspect was taken into custody without incident, but the other two occupants fled on foot into a wooded area. A second suspect was quickly apprehended, but the third escaped. He was eventually apprehended.

— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com

        

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