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19-year-old indicted in Virginia Beach woman’s shooting death

Posted at 3:13 PM, Mar 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-20 15:13:45-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A grand jury indicted a teenager in connection with the murder of a 60-year-old Virginia Beach woman.

Maurice Boney Jr., 19, was indicted for first degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and conspiracy to commit a felony. His trial is scheduled for May 31, 2017.

Maurice Boney Jr. has been charged with Murder, Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, and Conspiracy

Two other 17-year-old men were arrested in connection to the murder; Nicholas Cates and Angelo Worlds. At the time of the crime they were juveniles, but turned 18 behind bars.

Police linked Boney to the murder of Christine Bender, who was shot in front of her Campion Court home early on the morning of December 4, 2016.

The teen faced a judge on February 24 for a preliminary hearing.

Details about what happened that night came out in court when a Virginia Beach detective told the judge about statements that Boney made after being arrested on December 15th.

Detectives said Boney told them he and his friend Nicholas Cates went driving around the morning of December 4 because Cates said he ‘wanted to find someone to kill.’ Boney told detectives they ended up on Campion Court and saw Bender outside her house, smoking.

According to Boney, the men pulled up to Bender and asked her for a lighter. Boney told detectives that he and Cates lit their cigarettes and as Bender was walking back towards her house, Cates shot her 5 to 7 times.

Robert Bender, Christine’s husband, spoke to the judge about finding his wife in the street, unresponsive.

When officers were called to Bender’s house around 2 a.m., they took her to the hospital but she died as a result of her injuries.

Friends and neighbors told News 3 that Bender was a kindhearted woman who made up a large part of their close-knit community. We spoke to her daughter Elizabeth Stevens who said the two had just returned from a trip overseas,

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