Commonwealth Attorney James Camblos upgraded the charges against 18-year-old Jamie Jovin Poindexter on Thursday to capital murder for his involvement in the death of University graduate student Alison Meloy.
Poindexter, who was Meloy's next-door neighbor, originally was charged with first-degree murder. However, he now may face either life without parole or the death penalty under the new charges.
Because the commonwealth cttorney's office believes the murder was committed while in commission of a robbery and given the viciousness of the crime, it felt it warranted capital murder charges, Camblos said.
Police found Meloy dead in her townhouse apartment at 2117 Commonwealth Dr. on April 25 after she had been missing from work for several days. She had been stabbed 15 to 20 times.
Her powder-blue 1996 Nissan Sentra, missing at the scene, was found several days later in the 300 block of Greenbrier Drive, a half-mile from her home.
A man identified as Shane Barbour originally led police to Poindexter as a suspect. According to a police affidavit, Poindexter confessed to Barbour and another man after he picked them up in Meloy's car.
A preliminary hearing will be held July 12.
A 16-year-old from Waynesboro, Va., also has been charged in the case with accessory after the fact. But the commonwealth attorney's office has not focused on these charges in light of Poindexter's new charges, Camblos said.
Albemarle Police Lt. John Teixeira said police do not expect any more arrests in this case.
Police refused to comment on specifics of a motive in the case.
Meloy was a teaching assistant for Larry J. Sabato, a government and foreign affairs professor, in his Introduction to American Politics course. She also served as a researcher at the Sorensen Institute for political leadership.
To honor Meloy, the University will plant a dogwood tree on the Lawn and place a plaque on Cabell Hall near the new tree.
In addition to the memorial on the Lawn, the government department has renamed its annual award for outstanding teaching assistants the "Alison J. Meloy Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award."
"We wanted to remember her and her very strong performance as a teaching assistant," said Jeffrey Legro, the acting chairman for the government and foreign affairs department.
The Lawn memorials will be paid for by a fund created by the government and foreign affairs department. Any money left over will be put toward the new award in Meloy's name.
Any person wishing to contribute to the fund should make checks out to the Department of Government and Foreign Affairs (For Meloy Memorial) and mail them to: Alison Meloy Memorial Fund, Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400787, Charlottesville, Va. 22904.
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