Two defendants in the shooting death of Tahliek J. Taliaferro appeared in handcuffs in separate hearings this morning before Powhatan General District Judge Valentine Southall.

Southall set a preliminary hearing date of Aug. 27 for both Stephanie C. Reynolds, 19, of the 2600 block of Mountain View Road in Powhatan, and Ethan S. Parrish, 24, of the 100 block of Carter Road in Cumberland County.

Both are being held without bond, and their attorneys made no motion to set bond at today’s hearings, which lasted about 10 minutes.

The third defendant, Joseph Parish, 17, of Powhatan, appeared in court Monday.

All three face the same murder and malicious-wounding charges and a firearms charge.

Taliaferro was shot to death and a friend was wounded the evening of June 24 after an altercation erupted at an ice cream stand at Flat Rock.

Taliaferro’s mother and other family members were at this morning’s hearing, but she had no comment. Relatives of Reynolds and Parrish also were at the hearing.

Ethan Parrish is being represented by Stephen C. Conte of the Richmond law firm of Blackburn, Conte, Schilling and Click, and Reynolds is being represented by attorney George A. Townsend of Richmond.

After the hearing, Conte said there have been discussions about who the shooter was, but that that he would not reveal specifics. At Joseph Parrish's hearing on Monday, prosecutors said they believe he was the person responsible for Taliaferro's death.

The slaying is Powhatan's first in six years.

Taliaferro and a wounded friend were found the evening of June 24 about a mile from where the shooting occurred, according to police. A resident of the area said police dogs detected bullet fragments from a driveway near Dorset and Schroeder roads.

Later that night, a few miles south of the location, police found the vehicle, a Dodge Durango, that the Parrish cousins and Reynolds had been riding in, according to a search warrant. The three turned themselves into police later in the week.

A resident at a home where the Durango was found said yesterday that he worked with Ethan Parrish in a floor covering business. He said he assumed the vehicle parked behind a shed on his property had been left there for safekeeping. He declined to be identified because he said he is fearful of threats against the Parrishes' friends and acquaintances.

Police recovered three weapons from a well on the property and ammunition from the vehicle, according to court documents.

Documents also assert that Taliaferro and a group of friends were confronted by Joseph Parrish at a Flat Rock ice cream store the evening of June 24, and that Joseph Parrish taunted Taliaferro and allegedly "told them to follow him if they wanted to take care of business."

The Sheriff's Office said yesterday that two unidentified female witnesses who had been riding in the Durango were able to describe weapons later found in the well as having been in the white Durango.

From the ice cream store, the Parrishes and Reynolds traveled south on Dorset until they reached the driveway at Dorset and Schroeder roads where the shooting occurred.

In court Monday, Joseph Parrish was described as having been noncompliant with a juvenile sentence in which he had been required to perform 150 hours of community service. In addition, a prosecutor said that Joseph Parrish was supposed to have been under home detention at the time the shootings took place.  He is being held without bond.
Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.

Times-Dispatch extern Daniel C. Yates contributed to this report.