Judge Closes Hearing For Teen Accused Of Killing Mother, Brother

WARRENTON, VA — A Virginia judge ordered reporters out of a Fauquier County Circuit Court hearing room Monday afternoon in the case of Levi Norwood, 17, who is charged with the Valentine's Day killing of his mother and brother, citing the need to protect jury selection and the privacy of a youth. The Fauquier County’s commonwealth’s attorney and Norwood’s defense attorney jointly asked the judge to close the case's initial proceedings to the public.

Norwood was transported back to Fauquier County over the weekend from Durham, North Carolina, where he was arrested at a Target by police on Feb. 15 and accused of shoplifting hair dye, clothes and a backpack. The police then learned Norwood was the suspect in the Fauquier County killings.

Judge Melissa N. Cupp, a family and domestic relations court judge, made the decision Monday to close the proceedings to the public despite a motion filed by a newspaper to intervene in the case to have the hearing open to the public.

Ryan Ruzic, Norwood's public defender, stated that in a small community such as Fauquier County, keeping the proceedings closed would be necessary to protect the pool of jurors from being compromised and to protect any potential witnesses younger than 18.

The Fauquier County Sheriff's Office said Norwood, a junior at Liberty High School in Bealeton, killed his mother, Jennifer Norwood, 34, and 6-year-old brother Wyatt and shot his father Josh Norwood, 37.

After the Feb. 14 killings, Norwood allegedly fled his family's house in the community of Midland and traveled on foot about 10 miles, where he stole a car, according to the sheriff's office. Norwood then fled to Durham in the stolen, police said.

Before the judge's decision to close the hearing, the Washington Post filed a motion citing state law that says that “hearings held on a petition or warrant alleging that a juvenile fourteen years of age or older committed an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult shall be open.” The judge ruled to keep the preliminary hearings closed to the public.

The hearing was moved from the family and domestic relations court to the Fauquier County Circuit Court building for security reasons, the sheriff's office told The Fauquier Times.

Last week, classmates of Norwood recounted stories that Norwood would tell them about his parents' views on race and how he was afraid to bring home friends who were African American because of his parents' racism. A close relative of Josh Norwood also told The Post that the father was upset his son was dating a black girl.

According to reports, the commonwealth's attorney, Scott Hook, has not said whether he will seek to try Norwood as an adult.