Teen Indicted on Murder Charge For Man Slain on Morning Walk

A 17-year-old Loudoun County youth was indicted for first-degree murder Tuesday in the March beating death of a man walking with his wife in the Lansdowne area and also charged with aggravated malicious wounding for the critical injuries inflicted on the man's wife during the attack.

A Loudoun grand jury indicted Jaime Ayala for the killing of William Bennett, 57, and the wounding of Cynthia Bennett, 55, who was hospitalized for months. Both crimes carry minimum penalties of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison.

At a preliminary hearing in Loudoun juvenile court last week, a Loudoun sheriff's investigator testified that Ayala claimed he was merely the driver for two other young men, who leapt out of a van driven by Ayala on the morning of March 22. Ayala reportedly told the investigator that while he waited in the darkness, his two friends beat William Bennett, 57, and Cynthia Bennett, 55, along Riverside Parkway, and that he later helped the two burn their bloody clothes.

Ayala allegedly named Darwin G. Bowman, 18, of Annandale and Anthony R. Roberts, 20, of Middleburg as the passengers who spotted the Bennetts and attacked them. Bowman has been charged with capital murder and is awaiting a preliminary hearing. Roberts has not been charged in the Bennetts' case but is being held on unrelated charges.

The grand jury also indicted Ayala on charges of assault by mob and malicious wounding for a gang-related fight at a party in Sterling three weeks before the Lansdowne attack. Ayala reportedly told sheriff's investigators that he was a member of the 18th Street gang and was involved in a large fight with members of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, on Feb. 28. Investigation of that episode led police to Ayala.

There was no indication during last week's hearing of gang involvement in the Bennett slaying.

Ayala cannot be charged with capital murder because he is a juvenile. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty cannot be imposed on anyone younger than 18.

In his interview with Loudoun sheriff's investigator John H. Smith, Ayala allegedly also indicated that Bowman and Roberts had raped Cynthia Bennett, and Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney James P. Fisher said in the last week's hearing that he planned to bring rape charges later. No rape charges were filed Tuesday.

At the conclusion of Ayala's preliminary hearing last week, defense attorneys Barry Zweig and Kimberly Irving pointed out that prosecutors had not proved that Ayala was a juvenile, a necessary element for the juvenile court to have jurisdiction. Juvenile Court Judge Avelina S. Jacob agreed, and although she said there was probable cause to believe that Ayala was involved in Bennett's slaying, she dismissed the case for failure to prove his age.

But Virginia law allows prosecutors to simply "straight indict" a juvenile when his case is dismissed in juvenile court. Fisher did that Tuesday.

Zweig and Irving promptly challenged the legality of the indictment and filed a motion in Loudoun Circuit Court to quash the indictment. "We believe the circuit court does not have the jurisdiction to hear these cases," Irving said.

The same state law that allowed prosecutors to indict Ayala, despite the dismissal of his case five days earlier, could pose a problem for them. The law states that an indictment in the circuit court "cures any error or defect in any proceeding held in the juvenile court except with respect to the juvenile's age." Ayala's attorneys are hoping that the age issue would persuade a circuit judge to return the case to juvenile court.