Evidence of a struggle

A Sunday night stabbing death highlights the at-risk nature of Stafford Street in Staunton, authorities said Monday.
On the same block where police and volunteers have been preparing a home to host ex-offender education, anti-gang and community support programs, residents are coping with the killing of Kevin Lewis Bryant, 45.
Police on Monday arrested Nettie Lee Salisbury, 43, on a first-degree murder charge, Staunton police Officer Lisa Klein said. George Battle, 50, who lives with Salisbury in an apartment on the 100 block of Stafford, and his brother, Roy Battle, 46, of Montgomery Avenue, were arrested on misdemeanor charges of being accessories after the fact for first-degree murder. No additional charges are expected.
Police responded to a call at 9:22 p.m. Sunday and found Bryant bleeding in the street, stabbed in the chest. The Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad transported Bryant to Augusta Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Bryant was staying with Salisbury and George Battle. Police declined to describe a motive.
The stabbing death was not gang-related, Klein said.
Neighbors remembered Bryant as a “good guy” who would say, “hello,” but little more and who didn’t cause problems in the area.
Volunteers plan to be at 103 Stafford Street tonight hanging plants and baking cookies at the soon-to-open community support house known as The Living Room, said Diane Kellogg, program coordinator with the Office on Youth. The Living Room is within sight of where Bryant was found by police.
“The people on the street need to deal with the crisis,” Kellogg said. “I told the kids that when they see the doors open, to come on in.”
The number of police calls to the 100 block of Stafford increased by 55 percent in the first five months of this year over the same period last year, Klein said. Klein described the community as “at-risk” and one plagued by vacant homes and marred by graffiti.
“This [death] is an indication of how badly [community programs] are needed,” Klein said. “It’s a community that needs to pull together.”
The Living Room is just one of the initiatives being undertaken by the SAW 2010 anti-gang coalition, part of what Klein calls a “grassroots movement” to reach out to the neighborhood. In past years, Staunton police have performed rigorous patrols of the community, Klein said. A day of community beautification is planned for Sept. 27.
“It’s not a roadblock,” Klein said of the stabbing.
Salisbury is being held in Middle River Regional Jail in Verona. She has no prior felony convictions, according to Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro court records.
Both Battle brothers were released. George Battle’s record includes convictions on felony charges of possession of illegal drugs, malicious wounding, grand larceny and assault and battery, according to Staunton Circuit Court documents. Roy Battle was convicted of cocaine distribution, petty larceny and attempted unlawful wounding.
Bryant was convicted of cocaine distribution, malicious wounding and larceny from a person.