Deep Creek homicides result in indictments for Barnes

By Linda Cicoira

     A Northampton man, who is accused of murdering his both his mother and a local fire medic before turning the gun on his sister at a party in Deep Creek, in July, was recently indicted by an Accomack Grand Jury for those and other corresponding crimes.

     Thirty-four-year-old Frederic (Ricky) Marvin Barnes Jr., of Main Street, in Exmore, was indicted on counts of premeditated murder of 75-year-old Brenda Iline Barnes, with whom he lived; premeditated murder of 53-year-old Dean Herbert Reid, of Parksley,; and attempted murder of Christina Green, his sister, who lived at the Deep Creek Road residence where the shootings occurred.

     Barnes was also indicted on counts of second-degree murder of his mother, second-degree murder of Reid, attempted second-degree murder of Green, use of a firearm in those felonies, brandishing a firearm, recklessly handling a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm while under the influence of alcohol.

    Green spoke to a Shore Daily News reporter about the incident.

     “This all happened at my home,” Green said. “It was a surprise birthday party for my nephew. If you could see the videos and the photos right before all of this happened,” said Green. “I bought … the world’s hottest candy bar. Everyone tried it … we were all just goofing off and having fun. In a matter of minutes all this hell broke loose. How can it go from having fun and laughing and joking to killing?” she asked herself.

      “I lost my second mom. A woman who wouldn’t hurt a fly. A woman who would help anyone anyway she could … I spent nearly every holiday with this woman since I can remember. She’s was such a kind-hearted person, just like Dean.”

     Brenda Barnes was known for her cooking. She had been a “cafeteria lady” at Willis Wharf school and a cook for the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office. Fellow members of the Maranatha Baptist Church, in Exmore, knew her as “Biscuit Lady.” Brenda Barnes worked in nursing homes and in home healthcare, Green said.

      “I’ve known you since I was a little kid,” Green said of her stepmother in a Facebook post. “You stepped up and helped dad raise the four of us … You were not just there for your family, but also your insane amount of friends. Things will never be the same without you. I’ll never get another text from you. Family and holiday dinners will never be the same without you … I’ll miss your jokes and your wacky sense of humor … I’ll miss your positive outlook on everything and our late-night talks… Your memory will live on in us all … I’ll miss you dearly and I’ll always love you.”

     “Ricky was drinking,” Green said continuing to talk about the tragic night of July 3. “He had a lot to drink. He had gotten belligerent. We wanted him to go home.”

     The suspect had driven himself and his mother to the party. Green said Reid was due to be at the Melfa firehouse to take calls at 9:30 p.m.

     The defendant became angry about leaving the party and drank two more shots of vodka. “I went to make to-go plates” for them, Green said. “Dean was making a plate too. Green’s son was going to drive Brenda and Ricky Barnes home and Green and Reid were going to follow.

     The violence began when the defendant started to fight with Green’s nephew. “He hit him in the face, above the eyebrow, with his fist,” Green said. “He kept swinging and staggering.” The younger man did not fight back. Green, her sister, and her daughter tried to break it up. Then, he began to swing at them, Green said.

     “Brenda was beside me and she yelled to call 9-1-1.” Green she was calling for help when Reid walked up. Reid touched Barnes “on the shoulder and said, ‘Come on man, you don’t have to do this.’” Then Barnes, according to Green, shoved Reid.

     Green said, after Reid gained his balance, he told her brother, “You don’t know who I am.” The suspect answered, “You don’t know who the hell I am,” Green said.

     At that point, Green said, her brother “pulled out a gun and shot him (Reid) in the chest. Dean spun around and hit the ground. They were so close to each other. Dean fell onto the sidewalk. And Ricky shot him two more times in the back,” Green added.

     “Then he turned to his mother. ‘I’m tired of taking care of you,’” Green said she heard her brother say before shooting her stepmother “twice in the head.” The woman fell on her back.

     “I was still on the phone with 9-1-1 and he turned the gun on me,” Green continued. “He shot at me while I was running down the driveway and missed. He ran out of ammo as I was running into my neighbor’s yard. I looked back. He was standing between his car and Dean’s car and reloaded the gun. I kept screaming, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to kill me.’ He shot at me three more times as I’m running though the neighbor’s yard.”

     Green said he was about 20 feet away from her. It was still light outside and she could see how he was looking at her. “It scared me because my brother has never been a violent person. He was holding the gun with both hands. A handgun. He was determined he was going to hit me … If he had been sober, he would have got me, no doubt. After I got in the neighbor’s house, he got in the car and left … I ran back over to Dean and my stepmom” to try to help them, Green said.

     She was also thinking about her brother’s state of mind and all the guns that were at his house. She said she told that to the dispatcher.

     “My six-year-old granddaughter was in the swimming pool when the shooting started and my son grabbed her and ran in the house,” Green continued. “He usually minds his own business and wasn’t a drunk,” she said of her brother. It was “the first time I’ve ever seen him drunk.” He obtained a concealed carry permit after working as a pizza delivery man and getting robbed, she said he had previously told her.

       “Why an extra clip?” she said. “I don’t understand it. His own mom and Dean. She didn’t do anything. She was just begging him to stop. I don’t understand why he would try to kill me … I’m feeling guilty … because they are dead and I’m alive. I’m glad I’m here and I would never want my kids to see me be killed. My daughter watched” what happened. “It’s just so hard on them.”

     Green also disclosed that her brother shot himself in the leg during the incident. “My nephew said he heard a pop” when her brother pulled the gun out and they think he had ammo in the chamber. She said he was later released from the hospital and taken to jail.

    Records filed in Accomack General District Court show K.A. Cobb of the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation and arrested Barnes, who is six foot two inches tall and weighs 330 pounds. The unemployed suspect has lived on the Eastern Shore all his life. A court document was checked “yes” regarding whether he is “likely to obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice or threaten, injure or intimidate or attempt to threaten, injure or intimidate a prospective witness, juror, victim or family or household member” as defined by state law.

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