BOY PLEADS GUILTY IN SLAYING

Nicholas Elliott pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing 41-year-old teacher Karen Farley and to committing 13 other felonies in a shooting rampage last December at Atlantic Shores Christian School.

In a small courtroom crowded with reporters, relatives of the slain teacher, Elliot's parents and students from the school, Elliott responded with a barely audible "guilty" to charges of murdering Farley, maliciously wounding 37-year-old French teacher Sam Marino and attempting to murder two other teachers and one student with a 9-mm semiautomatic pistol Dec. 16.

Evidence in the case indicated that Elliott, who is black, that day was pursuing a white student who had repeatedly taunted him with racial slurs.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12, when Circuit Judge Alan Rosenblatt has the option of sentencing Elliott as a juvenile or an adult.

"I just hope they put him away," said Ruth Heafner, Farley's 67-year-old mother. "That's what I hope. They should have done it a long time ago. She was my only daughter. She was the best daughter you could ever have. He just murdered her. He shot her down like a mad dog."

Rosenblatt asked a probation officer to prepare a report on Elliott's background for the sentencing.

If Rosenblatt chooses to treat Elliott as a juvenile, the 16-year-old will be released by the time he is 21.

If he sentences Elliott as an adult, Elliott's maximum sentence could be life imprisonment plus 114 years. He would be eligible for parole after 15 years, Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Sciortino said.

In addition to the other charges, Elliott pleaded guilty to three counts of shooting a firearm in an occupied building, four counts of using a firearm to commit felonies, one count of possessing a firebomb and one count of possessing explosive materials.

Dropped as part of a plea agreement between Sciortino and Elliott's lawyers was one count of attempting to murder Marino, two counts of using a firearm and two counts of possession of firebombs.

Sciortino said guilty pleas to all 19 charges would have made Elliott's potential sentence life plus 152 years, but that convictions on those charges would not likely bring the youth more time behind bars.

Hugo Madison, Elliott's lawyer, said he thought the guilty pleas would increase the likelihood of a more lenient sentence.

William Farley, Karen Farley's 43-year-old widower, said before the trial that he hoped Elliott would receive a penalty more stringent than one for which he is eligible.

"If someone can walk into a school and try to kill four people and wind up killing one and there's no death penalty, I feel there's something absolutely wrong with the state of Virginia," he said.

Heafner said she wanted a severe punishment for Elliott in retribution for her own suffering as well as others'.

"He stole from me. He stole my daughter from me. He stole Bill's wife," Heafner said. "He has shown no remorse. He has said not one word of apology to me or my son.

"There hasn't been a day when I haven't wept or cried. I just miss her so much ... I just have one son now. If I live to be 150, I'll never get over it."

James Wright, a student who was in the mobile classroom where Elliott's gun misfired before he was tackled, said, "I hope to see him convicted hard.

"What kind of judicial system do we have if he gets off easy?"

Wright said he received counseling after the shooting, but that it still bothers him. "I can't stand to listen to loud bangs or anything like that anymore."

Sciortino used Tuesday's proceedings to enter into the record the grisly details of Elliott's spree in a courtyard at the school.

Quoting from a statement by Mark McNulty, a student last year at the school, Sciortino said that Jacob Snipes, a student at the school, "made fun of Nicholas a lot because he was black."

McNulty, Sciortino said, "heard Nicholas say on several occasions, `You better stop it or I'll kill you.'"

Anthony Amato, another student, was prepared to testify that "Elliott told him in the lunchroom that he was going to kill Jake, that he was going to get a gun and shoot him," Sciortino said.

Susan Allen, who was in a portable classroom with Marino before he was shot, would have testified that Elliott told her, "I want to show you something," and pulled an Cobray M-11 semiautomatic pistol from his bookbag, Sciortino said.

Allen would have said that Elliott shot Marino, then said "Now you," to Allen and chased her as she zigzagged through the school courtyard screaming for help, the prosecutor said.

Snipes was to say that Elliott entered another mobile classroom, said, "Jake, I hate you, man. I'm going to kill you," Sciortino said.

Snipes' account would have said that Hutch Matteson tackled Elliott as his gun misfired and he was restrained, Sciortino said.

A youth pastor at the school, David Michael Luckie, would have testified that after he was caught, Elliott said "this is what black people do to get back at whites who make fun of them," Sciortino said.

William Fuller, a school administrator, would have described the strong odor of gasoline outside Elliott's locker and the three Molotov cocktails found inside, Sciortino said.

B.O. Fulghum, a Virginia Beach arson investigator, would have described how Elliott's bookbag contained rubber bands, a copper pipe and explo sive powder - the makings of a pipe bomb.

And Detective D.G. Adams would have testified that a captured Elliott told him,"My gun is my best friend," Sciortino said.

After Sciortino summarized the testimony of many of the 44 witnesses who, he said, would have testified in a trial, Madison read a statement by Elliott.

Elliott was the victim of harassment, physical assaults, racial insults and threats, Madison said.

"He became fearful of his own life and that of his family," Madison said. He also said Elliott "had no intention of killing anyone."