Grand jury hands down murder charges in Smith, Glover cases
Amanda Stewart
The deaths of Jean and James Smith in December and Alexis Glover in January are both “very sad and very serious cases,” Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert said Tuesday.
And now both cases will be heard in Prince William Circuit Court.
A grand jury this week indicted 17-year-old Xavier Jamaal Pinckney on 13 felony charges for the deaths of Jean Smith and her son, James.
Pinckney, who will stand trial as an adult, now faces four counts of capital murder, two counts of first-degree murder, five counts of use or display of a firearm in commission of a felony and one count each of robbery and statutory burglary.
The grand jury also indicted Alfreedia Leona Gregg-Glover, 44, on four charges in the death of her 13-year-old adopted daughter Alexis.
She is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, felony child abuse and filing a false police report.
An indictment means that there is a enough evidence for a case to go to trial. It is not a finding of guilt or innocence.
Ebert spoke about the charges against Pinckney and Gregg-Glover during a press conference Tuesday.
“These are both very serious cases and very sad cases,” Ebert said. “I’m happy that the grand jury has seen fit to return these indictments.”
The indictments were among 250 returned by the grand jury that met Monday, Ebert said.
Pinckney is accused of shooting 19-year-old James Smith and his mother, 39-year-old Jean Smith during a burglary at their Dale City home Dec. 19.
Police believe that Pinckney broke into the Smiths’ house on Langford Court and shot James Smith as he slept on the living room couch.
Later, when Jean Smith returned home and attempted to call for help, Pinckney shot her, police said.
Police believe Pinckney stole several items from the home during the incident.
Pinckney will not face the death penalty because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime.
But if convicted of capital murder, he will face a mandatory life sentence for each charge, Ebert said.
“If he were a year older he would face the death penalty,” he said.
Just a few weeks after the deaths of Jean and James Smith, police began investigating the disappearance, and later the death, of Alexis Glover.
Police believe that 13-year-old Alexis was already dead when her mother reported her missing from Central Library in Manassas on Jan. 7.
The girl’s body was found in a shallow creek in Woodbridge two days later.
The medical examiner determined that Alexis died of drowning and exposure to cold.
Investigators now believe that Alexis was alive when she was placed in the creek, Ebert said Tuesday.
Ebert said he could not comment on other details of that case.
Both Pinckney and Gregg-Glover are scheduled to appear in court Friday. Trial dates will be set then.
Pinckney is being held without bond.
Gregg-Glover is free on bond now, but Ebert said prosecutors will ask Friday that she be held without bond on the new charges.
Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.