Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
The Virginia Parole Board has denied parole requests of three individuals from Radford and Montgomery County.
Katina Lyhnn Zelenake had been charged in connection with the 1993 robbery and murder of a shoe store manager who was confronted while making a night deposit. The manager was abducted, and her body was found later on Falling Branch Road.
Zelenake, along with two other co-defendants, William Ray Smith Jr. and Paul W. Morehead, were charged in connection with the case. She told the court she drove the vehicle that had been used in the initial robbery. All three defendants were charged with murder.
The suspects later attempted to rob a Domino’s Pizza manager who was also making a night deposit. The incident led police to the trio after they failed in the second robbery.
Because one of the businesses was located in Pulaski County and the other in Christiansburg, Zelenake was charged in both localities.
She is serving life in prison, and the parole board denied the request.
Vernell Delray Johnson was convicted in 1990 at the age of 17 for sexual assaults in both Radford and Christiansburg. The Virginia Parole Board ruled he needed to serve more of his sentence before being paroled, as his release at this time would diminish the serious of his crime.
Johnson had been given a life sentence in connection to sexual assaults of four Radford University students, and then the attempted rape of another woman after breaking and entering of an apartment in Christiansburg.
As a 17-year-old, Johnson’s charges were bumped to try him as an adult.
He has served 35 years of his sentence.
Jeffery Austin Barrow was charged with robbery, carjacking and abduction in 2022 during an incident involving a taxi cabdriver. Barrow had requested a geriatric parole as he has turned 62 years old. The board denied the release because of his extensive criminal record with the history of violence.
He had been given 20 years on the robbery with additional time for the abduction and carjacking.
