ALEXANDER CHARLES ERNANDES - 19 yo (2011)/ Convicted: Jerrold Thomas "Tommy" Greene III - Roanoke VA

Authorities are searching for a missing 19-year-old who was last seen on Thursday near Roanoke VA.



Investigators say Alexander Charles Ernandes left his home Thursday morning in Moneta to go to Tae Kwon Do training in Roanoke.

In the afternoon, Franklin County authorities say Ernandes met a friend at WalMart in Rocky Mount around 1:30 p.m. The friend told investigators that he left Ernandes inside the store around 1:45 p.m. There has been no contact from Ernandes since then.

Ernandes' parents located his vehicle, a dark blue 1987 Pontiac Firebird at the Walmart parking lot.

Ernandes is a white male with a shaved head, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighs 160 pounds. He has brown eyes, and brown hair.

Friends say Ernandes is a member of the R.O.T.C., and dedicated student at Franklin County High School.

"We love him! He's a great kid. I mean Alex is a friend to everybody. Alex is the type of kid that doesn't meet a stranger. Everybody wants to do what they can to bring him home," said Laura Schilling, a friend of Ernades.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at 540-483-3000 or the Crime Line at 540-483-6620, especially anyone who may have seen him in Walmart or in the parking lot on Thursday afternoon

http://projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=10871.0

MISSING: Franklin Co. Sheriff's Office to hold 11 a.m. news conference to discuss missing teen


Alex Ernandes was last seen Thursday at the Rocky Mount Walmart



http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-missing-franklin-co-sheriffs-o-01232011,0,2559398.story

Franklin Co. Teen Found Dead, Suspect Arrested

Jan 26, 2011 5:58 AM

Jerrold Thomas "Tommy" Greene III Photo Courtesy: thefranklinnewspost.com

Alex Ernandes

Investigators in Franklin County say the 19-year-old missing in
Franklin County for four days has been found dead.
The Franklin News-Post is reporting Alex
Ernandes was found shot to death early Tuesday morning near a mobile
home on Airport Road in Snow Creek.
There is a person in custody- Jerrold Thomas "Tommy" Greene III.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office says Greene was the last known to be with Ernandes.
Investigators say he eventually admitted to shooting him and told them where to find the body.
Greene is charged with first degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a murder.http://www.wset.com/Global/story.asp?S=13904218

We now have a better understanding of what happened to Alexander Ernandes, after he went missing last Thursday.
"Tragic news today the body of Alexander Charles Ernandes of Moneta
was found early this morning,” says Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt.
Based on cell phone information, investigators believe Jerrold Greene
was the last person to be in contact with Ernandes. Greene initially
told police he had seen Ernandes at the Rocky Mount Wal-Mart.
Investigators spoke to him again Monday night, due to inconsistencies
between surveillance video and Greene’s story.
"Greene admitted picking up Ernandes at the wal-mart taking him to
his friend’s residence in snow creek. Green then shot Ernandes several
times. Greene also told investigators where he hid the body,” says Hunt.
Alexander Ernandes's body was found in a heavily wooded area behind a
mobile home off Airport Road. Investigators say he was shot multiple
times, and the body was concealed. A weapon has been recovered but,
investigators have not said if that was the weapon used to kill
Ernandes.
Greene appeared in Franklin Co. court Tuesday morning, and was
charged with first degree murder. Meanwhile investigators remained at
the scene of the crime, and say they have no reason to believe others
were involved.
“Greene's family is very respected in the Boones mill community.
Ernandes I know was an honor student that already received a letter of
acceptance into VMI and was in the process of trying to get into west
point,” says Hunt.
Sheriff Hunt and others stated these were two were very close
friends, both were in ROTC together in high school, and that is news was
tragic for both parties.
We have also confirmed that Jerrold Greene was a Roanoke County entry
level communications officer from February 2010 to September 2010. His
father, Tom Greene, is currently a Roanoke Co. Police Officer.http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/jan/25/missing-teens-body-found-franklin-county-ar-798495/

Judge denies motion to reject death penalty
Jerrold Greene III could be sentenced to death if convicted in capital murder case


Jerrold Greene III

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

By KEN BRADLEY - Staff Writer

A Franklin County Circuit Court judge denied a motion Tuesday to declare the death penalty unconstitutional in the capital murder case against Jerrold T. Greene III of Boones Mill in connection with the January shooting death of Alexander Charles Ernandes of Moneta.

Greene's attorneys, Carolyn Furrow and Robert Finch, filed the motion, which was rejected by Judge W.N. Alexander II.

Several circuits courts, the state of Virginia and the U.S. Supreme Court have ruled the death penalty is constitutional, Alexander said.

Two other motions filed by the defense fared better with the judge Tuesday morning.

A decision by the court on a motion asking whether the commonwealth would attempt to prove Greene was a future threat to society was delayed, as the court gave Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood two weeks to share his intentions with the defense.

The judge took a third motion under advisement to exclude specific photos from evidence. Finch said most of the 74 photos taken by sheriff's investigators were not relevant to the capital murder charge against Greene.

The judge did grant a request by the defense that the photos be sealed.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Greene in May on charges of capital murder, robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a murder.

During a preliminary hearing in March, Investigator Justin Sigmon with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office testified that Greene told investigators he shot Ernandes because Ernandes had punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach and caused her to miscarry.

Greene said he shot Ernandes five times in the back, reloaded his .45 caliber handgun and shot Ernandes twice in the head, Sigmon said.

Greene also told investigators where he had hidden the body in the woods near a mobile home on Airport Road in Snow Creek, Sigmon testified.

Greene, 20, was a school friend of Ernandes, 19, and the two were in the Air Force Junior ROTC together at Franklin County High School.

http://www.thefranklinnewspost.com/article.cfm?ID=20499

Greene sentenced to life plus 53 years
Alex Ernandes, a 19-year-old Moneta resident, was killed in January.

By Amy Matzke-Fawcett

Slight of frame, pale, shackled at the hands and feet, and dressed in a yellow Western Virginia Regional Jail jumpsuit with orange shoes, Jerrold Thomas "Tommy" Greene III was sentenced Nov. 23 to life in prison plus 53 years for killing Alexander "Alex" Charles Ernandes.

Greene, 21, pleaded guilty in Franklin County Circuit Court to capital murder and the use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and no contest to a robbery charge, in a plea agreement that avoided a possible death sentence. A jury trial had been scheduled to start later this month.

Greene, of Boones Mill, was indicted in May in the death of Ernandes, 19, of Moneta. Greene told investigators that he shot Ernandes several times because Ernandes had punched or kicked his girlfriend in the stomach during horseplay when they thought she might be pregnant, and Greene thought it caused her to miscarry.

Circuit Court Judge William Alexander found Greene guilty of all three charges.

The judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole for the murder, 50 years for the robbery and three years for the firearms violation, as agreed upon in the terms of the plea deal.

Ernandes was reported missing Jan. 21. In initial interviews with police, Greene told officers that he saw Ernandes in the electronics section of the Rocky Mount Walmart and they talked for a few minutes before parting ways.

Greene later told officers he had picked Ernandes up from the Rocky Mount Walmart and drove him to a home on Airport Road in Snow Creek where the two were target shooting. During that time, Greene shot Ernandes five times with a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, according to evidence presented in court by Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Allen

According to an autopsy report, Ernandes was shot three times in the back and twice in the head.

As the two were walking back from target shooting, Greene shot Ernandes in the back, Allen said. Ernandes fell to the ground and asked Greene why he shot him, the prosecutor said.

"Mr. Greene said, 'This is for my son,' and shot Alexander Ernandes two more times in the head," Allen said.

Greene told police he then covered Ernandes' body and left it behind the house, returning two days later to move it into the woods and cover it with brush, Allen said.

Ernandes' father, Tim, declined to comment after the sentencing. Ernandes was a 2010 graduate of Franklin County High School who had been a leader with the Junior ROTC program there. He had been accepted to Virginia Military Institute and received a posthumous appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

http://www.smithmountainlake.com/news/lakerWeekly/wb/301890