Accused shooter waives hearing

HARRISONBURG – John Franklin Myers spent his 45th birthday in jail Wednesday, just a day before a Rockingham County judge certified to grand jury a murder charge against him.

Witnesses young and old gathered Thursday at Rockingham County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, prepping for their moment in court. They gathered to talk about the Sept. 7 killing of Virginia Lynn Ware, 30, in Grottoes.

But nobody needed to testify. Myers waived his preliminary hearing.

Myers turned himself over to Augusta County authorities in the early morning hours of Sept. 8 after authorities charged him for shooting Ware to death in her driveway the night before.

The gunshots stirred the Grottoes mobile home park, where neighbors said they saw Myers shoot the already injured woman, and run off.

Myers and Ware lived in the mobile home for about seven months, frequently arguing. Myers moved out shortly before the shooting, neighbors said.

Myers served time for a 1993 shooting and an escape from custody in 2001, according to court records.

He is being held without bond in Rockingham Regional Jail in Harrisonburg for murder and firearm charges and awaits a grand jury hearing for his case Nov. 16.