DWIGHT A. WRIGHT, 26, was executed on Oct. 14, 1998, for murdering Saba Tekle, 33, an Ethiopian immigrant and mother of three, outside of her apartment in Annandale, Fairfax County. Wright, who was 17 at the time of the murder, forced Tekle to partially undress at gun point, attempted to rape her, and shot her in the back with a pistol when she tried to run away.
STEVE EDWARD ROACH, 23, was executed Jan. 13, 2000, for murdering his neighbor Mary Ann Hughes, 70, who was counting her social security money at the time. Roach, of Stanardsville, Greene County, Va., who was 17 at the time of the murder, shot his neighbor in the chest with a shotgun and stole her purse, credit card, approximately $60 and her 1981 Buick Regal.
DOUGLAS CHRISTOPHER THOMAS, 26, was executed on Jan. 10, 2000, for murdering his girlfriend's parents, J.B. and Kathy Wiseman, of Middlesex County, Va., who had pressured Jessica to end her relationship with him. Thomas, 17 at the time of the murders, said his girlfriend Jessica Wiseman, 14 at the time, wanted him to kill them. Jessica Wiseman was jailed, too, but is now free.
ON DEATH ROW
SHERMAINE ALI JOHNSON, 25, remains on death row for the July 11, 1994, rape and murder of former McLean resident, Hope Denise Hall, 22. Hall was found on the bedroom floor of her apartment in Petersburg, Va. and had been stabbed 15 times in the back, chest and neck. Johnson, 16 at the time he murdered Hall, was identified during a search of the state's DNA databank of convicted felons. He was incarcerated in Southampton Correctional Institute for rapes of a 21-year-old woman on July 2, 1994 and a 15-year-old girl on Aug. 31, 1994, when he was charged with the Hall’s murder. Two other rape victims testified in the penalty phase of his trial.