<sh>Klos Charge with Murdering Friend
<bt>Brendan Klos' sobs could be heard in the courtroom as he was escorted back to the Fairfax Adult Detention Center after his preliminary hearing in Fairfax County General District Court on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
Klos, 21 of Mount Vernon, is charged with the Aug. 25 murder of his friend and former high school classmate, Anthony Sherbaf. Klos and Sherbaf, 20 of McLean, both graduated in 2003 from Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington.
Fairfax County Police responded at 8:06 p.m., Aug. 25 to a report of a shooting at Klos' address on the 6100 block of Beech Tree Drive. Officer Gary Day testified last week that he arrived to the house at 8:09 p.m. Seven units responded, he said.
"I observed the defendant was sitting on the curb, next to the mailbox in front of the house," the officer testified. "I heard him speaking out loud to no one in particular."
Klos, dressed in a T-shirt and yellow shorts, was talking to himself, Day said. "Once I realized what he was saying, I put on my recorder," he said.
Without being asked anything by officers, Klos, according to the officer, said, "I'm a murderer, I didn't mean to, he was on top of me, he was strangling me, it hurt, I wanted him off, I couldn't breathe."
Inside the house, Day observed a silver handgun on the floor of a bedroom. Sherbaf, fatally wounded, was shot in the head and was lying next to the bed. Next to him, approximately six feet away, was a knife, Day said.
"There was a large amount of blood there at the time," he said.
The officer didn't observe any blood or marks on Klos' body, he testified.
A Fairfax County Circuit Court grand jury is expected to indict Klos in February for murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. If he is indicted, Klos, who is represented by James Clark and Jonathan Shapiro, will then face further court proceedings in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
<1b>— Ken Moore
<sh>Bus Driver Trial Delayed
<bt>The criminal trial of the bus driver involved in the fatal crash last year that killed two Arlington elementary school students was delayed last week because a key defense witness was unavailable to testify.
Pamela Sims is charged with on one count of reckless driving and another count of "failure to pay full time and attention." Her trial is moved to March 6.
Defense witness Gary Stevenson, who saw the the accident at the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Courthouse Road on April 18, was unable to attend the trial because he was in Colorado for the funeral of a relative, John A. Keats, Sims’ attorney, told the court.
Presiding Judge James F. Almand agreed to the request.
Nine-year-old Lilibeth Gomez and 7-year-old Harrison Orosco, both students at Hoffman-Boston Elementary School, were killed when the school bus, which was making a left turn, and an oncoming garbage truck collided.
Both Smith and garbage truck driver, James Wallace, were hospitalized, and Smith refused medical attention until she had helped pull all the children out of the wreckage.
Smith had a clean diving record during her 11 years as a school bus driver, school officials said.
Wallace is charged with a single count of reckless driving and is scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 30.
<1b>—Seth Rosen
<sd>New Affordable Housing Units to be Created
<bt>The County Board approved funding for two developments that will add nearly 100 affordable housing units in Arlington. The county has a goal of creating at least 400 affordable units this year, officials said.
A county loan of $3.3 million will help AHC Inc. redevelop the existing Fairview Manor apartment complex into 94 new apartments. The apartments, ranging from efficiencies to three-bedroom units, will serve households earning 40 percent, 50 percent and 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). Sixty percent of AMI is roughly $54,000 for a family of four.
Robert Pierre Johnson Housing Development Corporation will use a county loan of nearly $1.7 million to purchase and renovate two existing apartment buildings and convert some of the units into two-bedroom units.
Both developers have agreed to work with the county’s Department of Human Services to house several of its consumers.
<sd>Arlington Free Clinic Receives Grant
<bt>The Arlington Free Clinic received a $30,000 one-year grant to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer. This is the fifth year thatThe Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund program has awarded a grant to the Free Clinic to support its work.
Last year the Women’s Health program at Arlington Free Clinic educated 400 women on prevention of breast cancer. The Virginia Hospital Center, has agreed to donate mammograms to the patients of this critical program. Last year, mammograms for nearly 70 women showed abnormal or indeterminate results, and seven women were diagnosed with breast cancer and referred for treatment.
<sh>Call for Arlington Poets
<bt>Since its inception in 1999, Moving Words posters have showcased the work of Arlington adult and student poets on all Northern Virginia Metro buses.
Poets must live or work in Arlington and the poems be 10 lines or less to fit onto the posters. Six poets will be chosen, and their poetry will be on Northern Virginia buses from April through September. The deadline is Jan. 27. Call 703-228-1841 or visit www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural_affairs/literary.htm#Moving.