Highland Juvenile Charged With First Degree Murder

In a press release received from the Virginia State Police Thursday, it was announced that at the direction of the City of Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney, a 14-year-old Highland County male has been charged with first degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of theft of a credit card for his alleged role in the fatal shooting of a Maryland woman in Highland County.

Shortly before 6 p.m., on Sept. 17, the Highland County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the 5200 block of Doe Hill Road in the McDowell community to conduct a welfare check. Inside the residence, the deputies located a deceased adult female, Ruth Ann Knave, 76, of Tall Timbers, Md.

A 2009 Subaru Forester was missing from the residence. Further investigation led Virginia State Police to the Richmond International Airport, where the Subaru was located in the parking lot. The male juvenile was taken into custody by police later that same night.

According to state police, he was held in a juvenile facility on a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle after Richmond Airport Police took him into custody at the airport.

The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Salem Field Office continues to investigate the fatal shooting that occurred Sept. 17, 2017. The Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney has been appointed as a special prosecutor for the case.