Suspect Can Be Tried as Adult

Teen Accused of Killing School Acquaintance and His Mother

A Prince William County judge ruled yesterday that a Dale City 17-year-old charged with killing a mother and son in their house during a botched burglary last year could be tried as an adult.

Authorities said Xavier Pinckney entered a house in the 13600 block of Langford Court on Dec. 19 and was surprised to find 19-year-old James M. Smith, a graduate of Pinckney's high school, on the couch. Fearing Smith could identify him, Pinckney shot and killed him, as well as Smith's mother, Jean, who came home a short time later, police said.

Yesterday, Pinckney appeared in Prince William Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, where Judge Janice J. Wellington ruled there was probable cause for the charges against him. The case will be transferred to the county's Circuit Court.

Prosecutors will seek to have Pinckney indicted by a grand jury for capital murder next month, Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said after the hearing. Pinckney cannot face the death penalty because he is a juvenile.

"It's an extremely serious case," Ebert said. "Two law-abiding citizens are dead because of his actions."

Pinckney faces charges of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Wellington closed the hearing to the news media. Afterward, Pinckney's mother declined to comment, as did his attorney, Mark T. Crossland. According to court records, Pinckney admitted the killings in a police interview Dec. 21.

Pinckney was a junior at C.D. Hylton Senior High School, where Jean C. Smith was an active and beloved volunteer, friends and family said. Jim Smith was home for the holidays from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., at the time he was killed.

After the slayings, Pinckney left the house with two guns, a laptop, ammunition and a blue bag, according to court records. Officials said the items were worth less than $1,000.

Authorities said they think Pinckney killed the mother and son using one of two .22-caliber guns he stole -- family heirlooms that Jean Smith's husband, Rick, said hadn't been fired in at least a quarter-century.

Rick Smith declined to comment after yesterday's hearing. Prince William Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles), a close friend of the Smiths who has acted as their spokesman since the incident, said family members were grateful this stage of the case was behind them.

"It's been a very emotional day," Nohe said. "It was certainly the first time they've been in the same room as the suspect. . . . It was very emotional to hear it spelled out step by step by step."