The Shadow
HARRISONBURG (AP) – A Virginia man accused of shooting two people on the Blue Ridge Parkway pleaded not guilty to one of the shootings Thursday in federal court.
Ralph Leon Jackson, 57, of Stuarts Draft pleaded not guilty to three charges in the wounding of Christina Floyd of Palmyra.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James G. Welsh appointed the federal public defender’s office to represent Jackson, who did not ask to be released on bond. Jackson’s trial was set for Nov. 10.
A federal grand jury this week indicted Jackson on one count of assault with intent to murder, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of using a firearm in a violent crime. If convicted of all counts, he faces up to 40 years in prison.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Virginia has said additional federal charges are expected in the murder of Tim Davis, 27, of Charlottesville, and state charges filed against Jackson in Augusta County are expected to be dismissed.
Davis and Floyd, 18, were shot from behind as they sat on a wall watching the sunset at the parkway’s Rock Point Overlook on April 5.
The blasts hit both victims in their upper bodies, and Davis tumbled about 150 feet off the overlook.
Floyd told investigators that she scuffled with the assailant.
