Lynchburg teen accused of shooting cheerleader faces new charges

By Chris Dumond

Published: December 2, 2008

A Lynchburg teenager accused of wounding an E.C. Glass cheerleader in a drive-by shooting this summer has been indicted on new charges that an adult was also shot.

Michael Ward, 17, was indicted Monday on charges of shooting from a vehicle, shooting an occupied dwelling, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and the malicious wounding of 17-year-old Kymberlee Moore.

An earlier charge of possession of a firearm was upgraded to possession of a firearm by a convicted violent felon in the indictment, Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Janell Johnson said.

Johnson said Ward was directly indicted on another charge of use of firearm in commission of a felony and the malicious wounding of Payton Taylor, an adult male who was also shot in the July 28 incident.

The prosecutor said she couldn’t release any more information about Taylor’s injuries or the new charges since they haven’t been heard in court.

According to testimony at Ward’s preliminary hearing last month, Moore and several relatives and friends were gathered on the porch of her grandmother’s Pierce Street home the afternoon of the shooting when Ward’s sister got into a fight with another girl.

The girl left, Moore’s aunt testified, but promised she’d be back. Fifteen minutes later, she said, a car turned onto the street from 11th Street with Ward leaning out the window, shooting at the dozen or so people gathered.

Moore was shot in the back, but has since recovered except for the scar, her mother testified.

Ward is jailed at the Lynchburg Adult Detention Center pending trial, which is scheduled for Feb. 23.