Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death by the State of Virginia for a quadruple murder. According to court documents Anthony Juniper was upset that his girlfriend broke up with him so he proceeded to murder her, Keshia Stephens; her brother Rueben Harrison III; and two of her daughters, Nykia Stephens, 4; and Shearyia Stephens, 2. Anthony Juniper would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Virginia Death Row Inmate List
Anthony Juniper 2021 Information
- Anthony Bernard Juniper
- Alias: Not Available
- Age/Race/Sex 49/Black/Male
- Offender I.D.#1126832
- Location Sussex I State Prison
- Release Date Death Sentence
Anthony Juniper More News
an. 16, 2004 was a nightmare in broad daylight at a Kingston Avenue apartment, prosecutor Karen Burrell told jurors Wednesday.
Inside, four people lay dead – Keshia Stephens, 27; her brother, Ruben Harrison III, 19; and her daughters, Nykia, 4, and Shearyia, 2.
They had been executed, Burrell said, by Anthony Bernard Juniper.
Juniper, 33, could face the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
During her opening statement, Burrell said Juniper and Stephens had had a stormy relationship for about a year.
“He was jealous, controlling, he constantly accused Keshia of cheating on him,” Burrell said.
In January they were no longer together, Burrell said, and Stephens had moved into the apartment with four of her six children. She sent the two older girls to school with a friend that morning, hugging them before sending them down the stairs.
“That was the last touch they ever felt from their mother,” Burrell said.
Juniper got a ride to the apartment to collect some of his belongings, Burrell said. He found Stephens at home with Nykia and Shearyia, who were naked because they were about to get in the bath. Nykia had written on her little sister with a marker. Harrison slept on the couch.
Juniper and Stephens began to argue, Burrell said. Juniper refused to leave with the woman who had driven him to the apartment. As the woman left, she heard gunshots.
Later that afternoon, police responding to a call of a burglary in progress found the door broken in and the television blaring. Inside, officers found the bodies of Stephens, her daughters and Harrison in a bedroom. The children lay on top of the adults.
Stephens had been shot three times and stabbed with such force that a knife blade sank nearly 5 inches into her stomach. Harrison had been shot three times from behind.
“Nykia, 4, had her brains blown out,” Burrell said. “Shearyia was shot four times. One was a shot to the head.”
Juniper left behind evidence including a fingerprint on a knife blade found next to Stephens’ body, DNA on a knife handle found in the same place and DNA on a cigarette butt found on the broken pieces of the door, Burrell said.
One of Juniper’s attorneys, B. Thomas Reed, said Juniper had been to Stephens’ house many times and could have left a fingerprint or DNA behind on another visit.
Juniper loved Stephens’ children, Reed said. He cooked and cleaned for them, bought them toys and registered the older girls for school using his mother’s address.
“The evidence will prove Anthony Juniper is the last person you would expect to harm these children,” Reed said.
Lawyers began calling witnesses Wednesday, including the police officers who found the bodies and the paramedic who pronounced them dead.
