Murder trial set for Superior Court

While the man charged with first-degree murder in the July 2006 death of 18-year-old Amy Devon Reese is on the docket to appear in Alleghany Criminal Superior Court on Oct. 13, it remains uncertain if Enrique Hernandez' case will be among those tried in an upcoming criminal session to be presided over by Judge Edgar B. Gregory.

During a brief phone interview Monday morning, Assistant District Attorney Stacy Adams reported that a jury would be coming in.

"I can't really say what we'll try, it could be anything on the calendar," she said. "The only thing we have right now is the trial calendar."

Hernandez, also known as Enrique Hernandez Soto, now 45, is on the Oct. 13 docket for the murder charge, as well as charges of misdemeanor escape from the local jail, assaulting a government official or employee and possession of a weapon by a prisoner.

Hernandez is presently being held without bond in the Alleghany County Jail. In relation to the murder charge, Hernandez came to the area with his eventual victim, Amy Reese, from Cleveland, Ohio. The two arrived in Alleghany on July 6 after traveling via bus to Wytheville, Va. and were staying with Reese's family on Grandridge Road.

On July 15, 2006, Reese's body was found by family members after Hernandez was reported to have left the area on foot. After being apprehended by Wythe County deputies a short time later, Hernandez was charged with stabbing Reese to death. On June 10, 2007, he and fellow inmate, Jeremy Lee Ebersole escaped from local custody around 10 p.m. after overpowering a jailer and taking his keys.

 

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