DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT FOR MURDER SUSPECT

By Jon Mayhew
Publisher

July 18, 2008

........
John Chavis Ross............Jarvis Jarel Ross

LINCOLNTON -- The District Attorney's office is considering the death penalty for a 25-year-old accused in the May 2005 shooting of Jarvis Jarel Ross, 17, a Lincolnton High School student.

John Chavis Ross (no relation), 25, is charged with murdering Ross. According to assistant district attorney Gwynn Radeker, capital murder may be considered in the case that's scheduled to go to trial this October.

"We'll start the process in August," said Radeker, "and we'll see where it goes from here."

John Ross is accused of shooting Jarvis on May 2, 2005, after an argument at a residence on Gastonia Highway. Jarvis Ross was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and died two days later.

In addition to the first-degree murder charge, John Ross is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill in connection with an incident that happened after the shooting.

Warrants were also served on unrelated charges involving road rage on Highway 150. Minutes after the shooting, a driver said John Ross clipped his bumper. Jeffrey Hutchins followed John Ross until Ross stopped at a residence and almost became a shooting victim himself.

Hutchins said John Ross pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger. Hutchens suffered minor injuries.

John Ross is currently held at the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center on a $110,000 secured bond.