Jury selection began Wednesday in the case against a man charged with malicious assault in the beating of then-candidate Sen. Richard Ojeda, D-Logan.

Jonathan Porter, 42, of Holden, will stand trial on the charge in Logan County Circuit Court. Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom was appointed to preside over the case after both Logan circuit judges recused themselves from it.

Bloom will return to Logan on Monday to complete jury selection and begin Porter's trial, said Logan Prosecuting Attorney John Bennett.

Ojeda was attacked in the days before he defeated the incumbent senator, Art Kirkendoll, in one of the biggest political upsets in Logan County history.

Ojeda has said Porter hit him from behind with a pipe and brass knuckles and then tried to run him over with a pickup.

West Virginia State Police are investigating Mark Sumpter, a former member of the Boone County Board of Education, and Danny Cantley, a current member, as part of an embezzlement case that led to the arrest of two others earlier this month.

Cantley is listed as a current board member on the Boone County Schools website, along with a criminal complaint filed in Boone County Magistrate Court on March 8.

Sumpter left his position as the board's president in late October 2016. In a past interview, Sumpter said personal issues and his plans to leave the county led to the resignation.

Cpl. Dean Brinegar, who is investigating the case, confirmed both Sumpter and Cantley are being investigated.

"They received property that was paid for by Boone County Schools," he alleged.

Brinegar said more information about the ongoing investigation will likely be available in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, police arrested two employees of the Boone County Schools Transportation Department after they allegedly stole more than $20,000 through fraudulent purchases.

David Jarrell, who served as the transportation director, and Tracy Harvey, who worked as a mechanic, reportedly bought tires, lift kits, mud flaps and a host of other goods for their own use.

Authorities charged Jarrell and Harvey with embezzlement and fraudulent schemes. Before their arraignment, both men told police they made fraudulent purchases for Cantley and Sumpter, who are still under investigation.

After the initial arrests, Superintendent Jeff Huffman said the lost money could have gone toward employee salaries.

When it comes to the public school system's more than 500 employees, the full-time professionals suffered a $3,800 to $4,000 salary cut in July, and the full-time service employees - including custodians and bus drivers - suffered a $3,650 to $3,850 salary cut.

Huffman, Sumpter and Cantley could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or @Gsabella on Twitter.

Before jurors decide the fate of a South Charleston man accused of killing and stuffing a 2-year-old boy in a freezer, prosecutors must decide which charge they want him to be found guilty of.

Jarrel Stricklen, 24, who is accused of killing Gavin Aldridge in May 2015, was indicted by a Kanawha County grand jury on both charges of first-degree murder and death by a parent, guardian, custodian or other person by refusal to supply necessities.

During a pretrial hearing on Thursday, one of Stricklen's lawyers asked Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King to require prosecutors pick one of those charges to bring against Stricklen at trial.

"These are contrary indictments," said Charleston lawyer Matthew Stonestreet. "One of them accuses him of premeditation, while the other says he failed to care. This puts [Stricklen] at a disadvantage defending himself. Are we accusing him of failing to do something or actually doing something?

"We just want to know what he's charged with," Stonestreet said.

Assistant Kanawha prosecutor Maryclaire Akers told King that Stricklen is indicted "in the alternative." That means jurors are presented with both charges to decide between.

Akers said the case was brought with an alternative charge against Stricklen because of the autopsy conducted on the 2-year-old by the state Medical Examiner.

King, despite saying he didn't see how the two charges put Stricklen at a disadvantage, ruled prosecutors must make up their mind about which charge for jurors to deliberate on before closing arguments are made in the case.

Gavin Aldridge died from "physical assault with fatal asphyxiation with the possibility of hypothermia," according to an autopsy conducted by the state Medical Examiner. "We charged it that way because it depends which way the Medical Examiner goes," Akers said of the two charges Stricklen faces.

Something stopped the boy from breathing, but no water was found in his lungs or nose, South Charleston police previously said. Stricklen initially told police the child's death was an accidental drowning. The Medical Examiner wrote that the "findings were inconsistent with a drowning," however.

The child had been dead for several hours when Stricklen allegedly placed him in a freezer. He didn't call 911 until the next day, prosecutors said.

Stricklen's trial had been set to begin on Monday, but King agreed Thursday to push it back. Prosecutors requested a continuance in the trial because a witness they expect to call to testify as an expert won't be available next week, Akers said.

A new trial date was expected to be scheduled Friday, King said.

Stricklen had been set to go to trial in December but a psychological report to determine his competency hadn't yet been provided to King at the time. Stricklen was determined competent to stand trial, the report showed.

Akers revealed during Thursday's hearing that on the day of the toddler's death, Stricklen had asked to babysit the boy three times. The child's mother eventually dropped the boy off at Stricklen's house before taking his twin brother for an emergency room visit because that boy had hit his head on a coffee table, according to Akers.

Troy Giatras, another of Stricklen's lawyers, has questioned why the child was left with Stricklen in the first place. He wasn't a paid babysitter and didn't really know the child's mother, Meghan Aldridge.

Stricklen's lawyers Thursday asked that they be provided transcripts of interviews conducted by officials with Child Protective Services and Meghan Aldridge's three other children in the aftermath of Gavin's death.

When prosecutors pushed back, Stonestreet said that prosecutors "are saying every bruise [on the child] is a product of this one incident."

"If there have been other abuse allegations made we should know about them. One kid went to the emergency room on the day the child went to the defendant's," Stonestreet said.

Akers said she didn't have any documents from CPS involving an investigation into the child's mother. She said it would require an order from King to obtain the sealed information. The prosecutor also said she didn't think a CPS report would change the case against Stricklen.

"The defendant only watched one of the twin boys and maybe only one or two times before this incident. The mother was never present and there are no allegations of abuse against her," the prosecutor said. "He is the only person who had custody of the child when the child was suffocated and killed," Akers added, pointing toward Stricklen.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

Jerome Sutton said Thursday that he knows a North Carolina man didn't set out to kill his brother during a shootout last year at a North Charleston bar.

But Jacques Slade, of Gastonia, North Carolina, wasn't even supposed to have a gun the night Jamaine Sutton, 32, of Dunbar, was killed, said Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom on Thursday. Bloom handed down the maximum prison sentence to the man.

"People are too quick to pull out a gun. First of all, you should not have had a gun," the judge told Slade on Thursday.

Slade, 26, pleaded guilty last month to voluntary manslaughter for Jamaine Sutton's death, which occurred during a shootout at the Boondocks Bar and Grill on Washington Street West. Slade also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He initially was charged with murder.

Bloom on Thursday sentenced him to spend 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge and five years for possessing a gun.

"To run consecutively," the judge said, "one after the other."

Before his sentence was handed down Thursday, Slade said nothing more than that he wanted to apologize to Sutton's family.

Slade, who is represented by former county prosecutor Mark Plants, admitted to firing shots on the night Sutton was killed, but said he wasn't aiming for Sutton.

"I didn't even know him," he said during his plea hearing.

The manslaughter charge carries a potential 3- to 15-year prison sentence and the gun charge carries a 5-year maximum.

Jerome Sutton spoke about what kind of person his younger brother was before the sentencing. The death has been a huge loss for his family, Jerome Sutton said.

"My brother had a daughter - has a daughter," Jerome Sutton said. "That's going to be rough road every day for her. He was a good person, a really good person. He was really well liked."

Although four other people were shot, Jamaine Sutton was the only one who died as a result of a shootout inside the bar which broke out just after 2 a.m. on May 14.

Jamaine Sutton was shot five times and pronounced dead at the scene, assistant Kanawha prosecutor Fred Giggenbach said. Any one of three gunshot wounds - one to his head, another in his shoulder and a shot in the back - would have killed the man, the prosecutor said.

"The defendant chose to pull a gun and fire very recklessly into a crowd," Giggenbach said of Slade. "We ask the court to impose the maximum sentence and run them consecutively."

The weapon used to kill Sutton has not been recovered. There is video of the incident but it's not clear, as the bar was very dark, according to Giggenbach. There also is no DNA or fingerprint evidence to show who shot Sutton, the prosecutor previously said.

While he said he knows Slade didn't set out to kill his brother, Jerome Sutton said he hopes Slade will spend his time in prison trying to change his life.

"I don't know much about him," Jerome Sutton said of Slade, "but I do know the rash decision he made that night cost my brother his life."

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

With less than two months left in his federal prison sentence, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has been moved to a halfway house in Phoenix, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website.

The agency website says Blankenship is now housed at RRM Phoenix, a residential reentry management field office.

Blankenship, who turned 67 on March 14, was previously doing his time at Correctional Institute Taft near Bakersfield, California. It was not immediately clear when Blankenship was moved.

He is serving a one-year sentence after he was convicted of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 workers died in an April 2010 explosion. He is scheduled to be released from custody on May 10. He must also serve one year of supervised release.

The Bureau of Prisons says that halfway houses "provide assistance to inmates who are nearing release." It says the facilities provide "a safe, structured, supervised environment, as well as employment counseling, job placement, financial management assistance, and other programs and services." It says the facilities "help inmates gradually rebuild their ties to the community and facilitate supervising ex-offenders' activities during this readjustment phase."

In February, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down Blankenship's request for a rehearing on his appeal of his criminal conviction. He can still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The deadline for that is in late May.

Prosecutors asked a Kanawha County judge on Friday to allow the state parole board do its job in the case of an East Bank man, who has served nearly eight years of a possible 35-year prison sentence after being convicted of several sexual assaults.

Thomas Henry Gravely was convicted in 2009 of four counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree sexual assault. Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman sentenced Gravely the following year to a 15- to 35-year prison sentence. The judge allowed the sentences for all of the charges of which Gravely was convicted to be served at the same time. Kaufman could have sentenced the man to spend nearly 200 years in prison.

Gravely was back in court Friday asking Kaufman to reconsider the sentence. Gravely hopes to be able to complete his sentence on home confinement.

"I want to be able to see my kids graduate," Gravely, a father of five, said during Friday's hearing.

Kaufman didn't make a ruling Friday. He asked lawyers to submit proposed orders.

Reconsideration hearings usually aren't held outside of the 120 days following a defendant's sentencing hearing. Gravely's request for reconsideration is part of his habeas corpus petition, which alleges his former lawyer was ineffective.

Ed Rebrook represented Gravely during the 2009 trial. Following sentencing, ReBrook didn't timely file a motion asking Kaufman to reconsider the sentence, according to documents in the case. ReBrook gave notice to the West Virginia Supreme Court that he planned to appeal Gravely's conviction, but no appeal was ever filed, according to Gravely's latest lawyer John Carr.

Documents note that Gravely did file motions on his own behalf requesting the reconsideration hearing. Assistant Kanawha prosecutor Fred Giggenbach, who prosecuted Gravely during the 2009 trial, agreed last month that Gravely deserved to have his sentence reconsidered.

Giggenbach, though, is adamant that Gravely needs to remain in jail. He said the judge cut Gravely a break with his original sentence.

"You're not the parole board," Giggenbach told Kaufman during Friday's hearing.

Gravely isn't eligible to appear before the parole board until 2024. By then, he will have served 15 years in prison.

The prosecutor also dismissed the progress Gravely reported making while incarcerated. He obtained his GED while in prison. A copy of his state Division of Corrections file was provided to Kaufman before the hearing.

"Nothing has changed," said Giggenbach, adding that Gravely previously admitted to sexually assaulting between 15 and 20 sex workers in Charleston. "The facts of the crimes have remained the same. Three women sexually assaulted by knifepoint and strangulation."

During Gravely's sentencing hearing nearly eight years ago, Giggenbach requested a stiff sentence. While Gravely's victims may have agreed to have sex with him in exchange for money, "they did not agree to be raped by knifepoint and violence," the prosecutor said at the time.

None of the victims in the case attended Friday's hearing. Giggenbcah said one of the women had told him she wanted to and planned to attend the proceeding.

ReBrook stressed during Gravely's 2009 sentencing that the victims in the case were prostitutes, including one who admitted during the trial that she had sex - mostly oral - with up to 10 men a night until she made enough money to support her $250- to $350-a-day crack cocaine habit, according to previous Gazette-Mail reports.

"These people with whom he was engaged were not innocents he pulled off the streets," ReBrook said at the time. "We're not talking about normal, average people."

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @katelwhite on Twitter.

The Nitro Police Department is investigating after a body was found in the Kanawha River near 12th Street, a Kanawha County 911 dispatcher confirmed. Media outlets report police received a call about the body around 1 p.m. Saturday.

A call to the police department was not returned Saturday.

Marriages

The following people filed for marriage licenses in Kanawha County between March 16 and 23, 2017:

Mark Christopher Ratliff, 28, and Crystalyn Spring Sowards, 33, both of Cross Lanes.

Douglas Gene White, 67, and Donna Kay Nichols, 51, both of Charleston.

Ronald Wayne Taylor, 59, of Charleston and Christine Lynn Redding, 67, of Delray Beach, Florida.

Jeffrey Pahl Hayhurst, 33, and Diana Cotoros, 23, both of Charleston.

Brent Millerd Wolfe, 49, of Dunbar and Kathryn Sue Greene, 48 of Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Nicholas Dean Evans, 19, and Abagail Kathaleen Walden, 20, both of Belle.

Andrew Stephen Cassis, 27 and Michelle Marie Romeo, 28, both of Charleston.

Lonnie Wain Smith, 53, and Janice Faye Linger, 50, both of St. Albans.

Raymond Scott Smith, 53, of Cross Lanes and Tammra Lynn Neville, 55, of Charleston.

Coty Dale Smith, 24, of Cabin Creek and Taylor Michelle Howell, 22, of Belle.

Michael John Kroll, 45, and Gale Lafon Kirby, 52, both of Charleston.

Scott Andrew Yates, 39, of Charleston and Tina Lynn King, 45, of South Charleston.

William Ray Lacy, 33, and Stefani Nichole Kargel, 33, both of Charleston.

Justin Richard Atkinson, 36, and Diane Lee Stephens, 62, both of St. Albans.

Richard Alan Radford Jr., 49, and Mechelle Lynn Vickers, 43, both of Dunbar.

Alexander Franklin Hall, 25, and Michelle Lea Legg, 25, both of London.

Divorces

The following people filed for divorce in Kanawha County between March 16 and 23, 2017:

Leeta Faye Beachum from Paul Andrew Beachum

Brittany M. Day from Jason A. Day

Rhonda Gail Castle from Brian Lee Castle

Kathryn Elizabeth LaGrange from Matthew Raymond LaGrange

Mary Elizabeth Thomas from Denton Lloyd Thomas

William E. Jarrell from Nikki Ann Elswick

Kelly Jo Martin from Thomas Andrew Martin

David Dewayne Balser from Bobbi Jo Balser

Donna Jean Claypool from James Allan Claypool

Denni Ray Smith from Rebecca Jean Smith

Raisa Lychelle Rich from Jonathan Lawrence Rich

Michael Allen Means from Angela Dawn Payne

Brittany Nicole Berry from Shawn Paul Berry

Amanda Nicole Young from Christopher Dale Young

Whitney Donn Buonarto from Michael Angelo Buonarto

Danielle N. Edgell from Scotty Lee Edgell

Brittany Kay Core from Michael Wayne Core

Briana Morgan Poe from Dakota Brent Jernell

Adara Farris from Robert Farris

Diana Deloris Pratt from Van Sterlin Pratt

Terry Gene Turner Jr. from Rachel Renee Turner

Property transfers

The following property transfers of $75,000 or more were recorded in Kanawha County between March 16 and 23, 2017:

Stephen L. Thompson to Christine J. Tribble. Condominium, Kanawha City Tax District, $112,000.

Christopher A. and Bridget N. May to Zeina N. Haidar. Lot, Charleston, $290,000.

Marc Bryson to Hillary M. Harrison and Daniel E. Davis. Lot, Charleston West District, $193,000.

Richard A. Pill and David D. Pill to West Virginia Housing Fund. Lot, St. Albans, $76,909.66.

Chad A. Ellis to B. Yvonne Black. Lot, Union District, $106,900.

Larry M. II and Marsha E. Angell to Kim A. Whittington. Lot, Union District, $285,000.

Jason Goff and Starlena Slater to Adam M. Elkins. Lot, Union District, $125,000.

Deborah L. Shuff to David M. and Christina Difilippo. Lot, South Charleston, $120,000.

Linda Gale Sigmon Facemyer, Helen Carol Murphy et al. to Joshua R. and Callie E. Gingerich. Parcel, Poca District, $90,000.

Howard L. Williams to John P. and Wanda C. Thacker. Lots, Jefferson District, $75,000.

Hanover Property Management LLC to Allie W. Smaidi. Lot, Charleston, $155,000.

Sharon F. Daugherty to Beatrice Mae Coffman. Lots, Elk District, $280,000.

Steven F. Luby to Jason C. Pizatella. Lot, Charleston, $229,900.

Michael B. Cochran II to William J. Kimberling. Lot, Charleston, $125,000.

Garrett K. Tomblin to Conrad G. II and Patricia A. Lucas. Lot, Charleston South Annex District, $245,000.

Lisa Drennen Shaffer and Matthew Thomas Drennen to Brian T. Morrison. Lot, South Charleston, $80,000.

George John Stablein and Anne M. Berry to Aaron M. and Kathleen A. Ferrari. Lot, Big Sandy District, $91,300.

Jessica M. Angle to Sherry L. Spencer. Lot, Jefferson District, 102,500.

Roger Kelly to Kellie M. and William R. Blake. Lot, Jefferson District, $90,000.

Robert W. and Susan D. Dowell from Jessica Lee and Robert Lee Smith II. Lot, Loudon District, $136,000.

Christopher B. Paul and Brittany J. Dickson-Paul to My Hardy and Paul Hardy Jr. Lots, Jefferson District, $220,000.

James E. and Lesa K. Jones to Jennifer L. Mathis. Parcel, Dunbar, $162,500.

Marvin Smith, Donald Lanham and Vernon Bowen as Trustees of Fairlawn Baptist Church to Shree Durga Shiva Vishnu Temple. Lots, Dunbar, $160,000.

JDI Asset Management LLC to Joseph Z. Wiley and Carly B. McConnell. Lot, Charleston South Annex, $155,000.

Thomas P. and Deborah A. Schoolcraft to Ridley E. and Brenda S. Durham. Lot, Jefferson District, $185,000.

Lynn Johnston to Lorna V. Harris. Lot, Charleston, $150,000.

Jeffrey A. Petry Jr. to Thayer E. Winnell and Betty J. Taylor. Lot, Union District, $160,000.

Robert B. and Tina M. Taylor to Benjamin Paul Samples. Lot, St. Albans, $149,900.

Karen E. Pettit, Phillip M. Legg et al. to Sarah Wilson. Parcel, Loudon District, $94,000.

Seneca Trustees Inc. to PennyMac Loan Services LLC. Lot, Jefferson District, $80,334.80.

Bankruptcies

The bankruptcies listed below are limited to those filed by residents or companies in the Gazette-Mail's circulation area. Chapter 7 designates the liquidation of non-exempt property; Chapter 11 calls for business reorganization; Chapter 13 establishes a schedule of payments to creditors. The following bankruptcies were filed between March 17 and 24, 2017:

Rex Steel Hamilton, Mammoth, Chapter 7. Assets: $38,200, Liabilities: $74,202.

Ashley Rene Nunn, South Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $30,170, Liabilities: $46,209.

Duaine Gregory Cowley, Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $50,042, Liabilities: $62,741.

Charles William Roth, Nitro, Chapter 7. Assets: $11,919, Liabilities: $35,362.

Laura Elizabeth Vesely, South Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $48,345, Liabilities: $46,971.

Samuel Robert Walker-Matthews, Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $237,994, Liabilities: $1,088,521.

Roy Lee and Hester Wilma Curry, Delbarton, Chapter 7. Assets: $60,665, Liabilities: $103,637.

Belinda Faye Kiser, Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $10,741, Liabilities: $30,911.

Jessica Yvonne Whitmore, Dunbar, Chapter 7. Assets: $18,851, Liabilities: $425,193.

Gary Wayne Sr. and Kimberly Sue Linville, Hamlin, Chapter 7. Assets: $55,017, Liabilities: $88,904.

Randall Wade and Elizabeth Mae Watkins, Nitro, Chapter 7. Assets: $67,010, Liabilities: $111,246.

Erica Wesley Trigg, South Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $139,454, Liabilities: $231,787.

James Carl Blackburn Jr., Williamson, Chapter 7. Assets: $46,205, Liabilities: $135,372.

Bliss Ryan Koontz, Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $3,735, Liabilities: $20,376.

Douglas Lee and Linda Sue Damron, Danville, Chapter 7. Assets: $67,278, Liabilities: $86,329.

Cherri Lynn Wilson, Charleston, Chapter 7. Assets: $25,950, Liabilities: $46,385.

Francis Marcelles and Rebecca Sue Pollastrini, Fayetteville, Chapter 7. Assets: $244,503, Liabilities: $219,392.

Roger Lee and Patty Gail Justice, Chapter 7. Assets: Unavailable, Liabilities: Unavailable.

Scott Alan Maddy, Alderson, Chapter 7. Assets: $56,284, Liabilities: $36,229.

Matthew Ogle, Shady Spring, Chapter 7. Assets: $22,3675, Liabilities: $314,103.

Shawn Tyrone Taylor, Charleston, Chapter 13. Assets: $171,515, Liabilities: $128,214.

Jessica Rena Smith, Nettie, Chapter 13. Assets: $0, Liabilities: $84,346.

Clifford Ray and Patsy Evangeline Mills, Alderson, Chapter 13. Assets: $209,286, Liabilities: $682,112.

Lindsey Taylor Wolford and Candi Lee Wolford, White Sulphur Springs, Chapter 13. Assets: $148,232, Liabilities: $167,630.

The following crimes were reported to the Charleston Police Department between March 16 and 23, 2017:

East District:

Lee Street East 200 block, petit larceny, March 16, 2 p.m.

Lee Street East 200 block, breaking and entering auto, March 16, 9 p.m.

Summers Street 100 block, breaking and entering auto, March 17, 11:17 a.m.

Washington Street East 900 block, breaking and entering, March 17, noon.

Morris Street 500 block, petit larceny, March 17, 1 p.m.

Leon Sullivan Way 500 block, petit larceny, March 17, 3:30 p.m.

Capital Street 100 block, petit larceny, March 18, 2:31 p.m.

Charleston Town Center, shoplifting, March 18, 3 p.m.

Morris/Lewis streets, robbery, March 19, 3:45 a.m.

Shrewsbury/Smith streets, robbery March 20, 7 p.m.

Washington Street East 2400 block, grand larceny auto, March 21, midnight.

Washington Street East 100 block, petit larceny auto, March 21, 8 a.m.

Summers Street 100 block, petit larceny, March 21, 6:30 p.m.

South District:

RHL Boulevard 200 block, shoplifting, March 16, 10:34 a.m.

Mountaineer Boulevard 2600 block, shoplifting, March 16, 1 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue Southeast 6500 block, shoplifting, March 16, 3:30 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue Southeast 6500 block, shoplifting, March 16, 9:45 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue Southeast 6500 block, shoplifting, March 17, 4:30 p.m.

30th Street 300 block, breaking and entering, March 17, 5 p.m.

Huber Road 2000 block, burglary, March 17, 6:30 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue Southeast 5300 block, burglary, March 18, 10 a.m.

Cross Terrace Boulevard 200 block, shoplifting, March 18, 2 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 6500 block, breaking and entering auto, March 18, 7 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 4000 block, grand larceny auto, March 19, 7:30 p.m.

Virginia Avenue 3700 block, breaking and entering auto, March 20, 2:30 a.m.

Delaware Avenue 500 block, shoplifting, March 20, 7 a.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 3800 block, shoplifting, March 20, 9:30 p.m.

Leslie Road 900 block, burglary, March 21, 11 a.m.

57th Street , petit larceny auto, March 21, 4:29 p.m.

Oakwood Road 100 block, grand larceny auto, March 21, 6:37 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 3100 block, petit larceny, March 21, 8:30 p.m.

West District:

Tennessee Avenue 200 block, breaking and entering, March 17, 4:23 a.m.

Chandler Drive 1600 block, burglary, March 17, 5 p.m.

Washington Street West 2200 block, petit larceny, March 17, 6 p.m.

Summit Drive West 1600 block, breaking and entering auto, March 17, 9:30 p.m.

Central Avenue 900 block, grand larceny auto, March 17, 11 p.m.

Wood Road 600 block, breaking and entering auto, March 18, 12:30 a.m.

Grant Street 500 block, breaking and entering auto, March 18, 4:32 p.m.

4th Avenue 1700 block, shoplifting, March 18, 10:17 p.m.

Delaware Avenue 200 block, strangulation, March 19, 2:30 a.m.

4th Avenue 1700 block, shoplifting, March 19, 1:13 p.m

Virginia Street West 700 block, shoplifting, March 19, 4:40 p.m.

Patrick Street Plaza 1800 block, brandishing, March 20, 2:45 a.m.

7th Avenue 2600 block, breaking and entering auto, March 20, 9:10 a.m.

1st Avenue 1500 block, burglary, March 20, 7 p.m.

Patrick Street Plaza 300 block, breaking and entering, March 20, 8 p.m.

Sissonville Drive 2300 block, shoplifting, March 21, 11:55 a.m.

Ferguson Avenue 1100 block, breaking and entering auto, March 22, midnight.

6th Street 900 block, shoplifting, March 22, 7:52 a.m.

Littlepage Terrace, petit larceny auto, March 22, 5 p.m.

26th Street 400 block, grand larceny auto, March 22, 7:53 p.m.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Maryland woman has been found guilty in a drunken driving accident in West Virginia that killed two women.

Media outlets report a Berkeley County jury on Friday convicted 34-year-old Clairesse S. Felipe of Columbia, Maryland, of multiple counts, including DUI resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident.

According to court records, Ashley Nicole Jenkins and Ashley Denise Long died in the July 2015 accident in Inwood. Both women were 28 and from Hagerstown, Maryland. They were in the back seat of an SUV driven by Felipe that crashed and burst into flames. Felipe and a front-seat passenger escaped.

A state trooper later found Felipe at a convenience store and arrested her.

Felipe faces up to 45 years in prison. Sentencing was set for May 22.

The victims of a double shooting early Saturday morning tell police they don't know who fired between 10 and 15 shots through the window of a Kanawha City hotel room where they were staying.

No arrests have been made, Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, said Sunday afternoon. The shooting happened at the Knights Inn. Two people, a 15-year-old juvenile and 22-year-old Terrance Bonner, were wounded.

In the six months leading up to news last week that Kanawha County's domestic violence court would disband, Kanawha Magistrate Julie Yeager said five of her decisions have been appealed to the Kanwha Circuit Court by lawyers with the county's public defenders office.

"I got a sense from the numerous recent filings that there was some sort of concerted effort to discredit the Domestic Violence Court," Yeager said several days after being told four of five state Supreme Court justices voted to end the specialized court's five-year run.

Justice Robin Davis recused herself from the otherwise unanimous ruling, a spokeswoman for the court said Sunday.

Diana Panucci, who heads the Kanawha Public Defender's Office, said she would not comment on the matter.

Gary Johnson, administrative director for the high court, met with Yeager on Wednesday and told her the court's decision to no longer allow the program. Johnson said complaints had been received about the program. He did not describe the complaints.

Yeager said she was immediately shocked. She had just asked Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey, who is also a stakeholder in the domestic program, to consider finding additional workspace for the growing domestic program. Yeager said she hadn't been made aware of any complaints, which Johnson said were forwarded to the state Judicial Investigation Commission.

"The shock has worn off, and now I am just so disappointed," Yeager said Sunday.

"I think they should have asked more questions about the court itself before making such a decision. It truly has been a great program for our county," she said.

Domestic violence advocates in Kanawha, the state's most populous county and where court officials see the most domestic-related cases, are concerned about the program coming to an end.

Tonia Thomas, spokeswoman for the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the program is a benefit to defendants involved in domestic abuse in addition to victims of domestic violence.

"It gives them so many more options than to just go to jail," Thomas said. "It's a scary thought to lose such a great resource."

West Virginians are more likely than people in other states to use guns to kill wives and girlfriends, according to a report released last year.

The Center for American Progress looked at 10 categories of gun violence. It found West Virginia ranks among the top in several areas, including, among others, gun-related murders of women by intimate partners. More than 2,000 domestic-related cases were open in 2016, according to information provided by Yeager. Nearly 600 of those were dismissed.

Under the program, Yeager handled all of the county's domestic violence cases. Those cases will again be distributed among nine of Kanawha County's 10 magistrates beginning April 30. Yeager will be among the magistrates in the rotation.

Traci Carper-Strickland will continue to preside over juvenile cases in Kanawha.

The cases won't start over but will continue at their current stage with a different magistrate, said Jennifer Bundy, spokeswoman for the Supreme Court.

The domestic violence program began in Kanawha County in 2012 as an experiment by the Supreme Court. Yeager has handled the domestic violence caseload in magistrate court since then, and, initially, Family Judge Mike Kelly oversaw those cases in family court.

In 2014, though, Kelly retired. His replacement, Joe Zak, wouldn't agree to handle only domestic violence cases. Since then, cases in family court have been shared among the county's five judges.

Yeager and the three assistants assigned to her maintained the domestic violence caseload in magistrate court. Two of those magistrates will lose their jobs with the program's end. Their salaries were funded by grant money.

The program was taken off pilot status last year, and five additional counties were permitted to open their own domestic violence courts. No other county in the state has done so, but Thomas said this week plans were being made to open them.

Reach Kate White at

kate.white@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-1723 or follow

@KateLWhite on Twitter.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia authorities say the regional jail system has revamped its inmate mail policy so inmates receive photocopies of all mail from family friends and businesses and the originals are shredded.

According to the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, the state's prisons are poised to do the same as the 10 regional jails.

Authorities say photographs in such "non-privileged" mail also are photocopied. The originals are kept with the inmate's personal belongings pending release.

The department says the new policy is responding to many attempts to smuggle contraband into the jails and prisons, specifically various forms of synthetic drugs by coating mailings with them.

The regional jail system received and screened some 300,000 pieces of mail last year.

Authorities in Crawley worked through Monday afternoon to clear a scene where one person died and a shipment of diesel spilled near the Shawvers Crossing area.

About 300 gallons of diesel leaked onto U.S. 60 after a tractor-trailer collided with another vehicle, according to the initial spill report, which doesn't specify who died.

Though Beaver Creek is located nearby, inspectors reported the spill was under control and had not entered the waterway.

"This spill will not impact a water system, but the nearest water system was notified of the accident as a precaution," Allison Adler, the director of communications for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, wrote in an email.

The tractor-trailer belonged to BWC Trucking in Ironton, Ohio, according to the spill report.

Greenbrier County dispatchers said the crash was first reported at about 9:30 a.m.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or @Gsabella on Twitter.

Nitro police say the man found dead in the Kanawha River on Saturday afternoon was from Jackson County.

Authorities found the body of Chris Woodall, of Ravenswood, on a stretch of the river near West 12th Street in Nitro, said Maj. David Richardson, a spokesman for the department.

Richardson said the department won't know what killed Woodall until a report from the state Medical Examiner's Office is complete.

Woodall's last known address was a homeless shelter in Charleston, he said.

The Charleston Police Department arrested a 31-year-old woman Friday after authorities allegedly found several dead cats at her apartment, including one in the refrigerator and another in the freezer.

Madeline Gourevitch, of Charleston, was not at her Wyoming Street apartment when the landlord visited March 10, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

The landlord meant to address a broken window, but he then found a dead cat stuck to the floor, apparently decomposing near the front door for a long period of time, according to the complaint.

A quick inspection of the dimly-lit apartment revealed cat feces and an odd smell in the kitchen, the complaint states.

Upon opening the refrigerator, the landlord reportedly noticed a paw sticking out of a black trash bag. Another bag sat in the freezer.

Police secured the apartment and returned the next day with members of the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association to process the evidence.

Authorities later determined the cats likely died of starvation, according to the complaint.

Police charged Gourevitch with animal cruelty. She could not be reached for comment.

After a 19-year-old woman was shot to death on Charleston's West Side last Fourth of July, police described a shootout between two men, Danny Fortune and Clarence Murray.

Murray was charged with Sheena Graves' slaying, but prosecutors dismissed that charge. Now, police say the second man, Fortune, might not have had a gun.

"At this point in the investigation, we have no evidence that Danny Fortune fired any shots - or had a firearm, for that matter," Charleston Lt. Steve Cooper, who is chief of detectives, said this week.

Fortune and Murray also were shot during the incident last summer.

When police arrived, they found Fortune bleeding on the ground outside an apartment at Littlepage Terrace, Cooper said.

Murray, 39, had faced a murder charge in Graves' death, and malicious wounding, in Fortune's shooting. Prosecutors dismissed those charges in November, saying the shooting needed more investigation. Murray is now awaiting a May 31 sentencing hearing on a federal charge of distributing methamphetamine. Federal prosecutors filed that charge the same day Kanawha County prosecutors dismissed the murder and malicious wounding charges.

At the time the murder and malicious wounding charges were dismissed against Murray, Assistant Kanawha prosecutor Maryclaire Akers called the case "complex."

"There were multiple shots fired and at least two individuals shooting guns, possible three," Akers said last year. "As a result, the case will need substantial investigation and will rely on forensic testing which is not yet complete. ... The state will continue investigating. After further investigation is complete, a decision will be made as how best to proceed in the future,"

Fortune, 36, of Beckley, has never faced charges stemming from the Fourth of July shooting.

Earlier this year and seven months after the incident at Littlepage, in a separate matter, federal probation officers wrote to a judge asking that Fortune's supervised release be revoked. Fortune has been under federal supervision for several years after serving a prison sentence for a drug charge. There is no mention by probation officers of the Fourth of July shootings.

Fortune was charged Jan. 8 by State Police in Beckley with driving on a license that had been revoked for DUI and driving with an obstructed windshield, according to probation officers. Both charges are misdemeanors.

About a week later, on Jan. 15, Fortune was arrested in Beckley and charged with unlawful possession of a deadly weapon by a convicted felon. According to probation officers, who cited a criminal complaint filed in Raleigh County Magistrate Court, Fortune was the passenger in a vehicle police pulled over for alleged traffic violations.

While searching the vehicle, officers say they located two plastic medicine bottles containing small amounts of cocaine in the front passenger door compartment. Under Fortune's seat police allegedly found a .25 caliber Tanfoglio Giuseppe Model 27 firearm, probation officers wrote.

Fortune was arrested and has been in the Southern Regional Jail since his arrest. The charges are still pending.

U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver scheduled a hearing for April 4 to decide whether Fortune's supervised release should be revoked.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

During an investigation into claims made that a Kanawha County man sexually abused a 5-year-old girl, Kanawha County Sheriff's deputies discovered that the man had sexually assaulted another girl - more than 20 years ago.

Douglas Richard Eddy, 41, of Malden, admitted to both charges of assault and abuse in court on Monday. He faces between 20 and 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse. Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit set a sentencing hearing for May 23.

The 5-year-old girl, who is the daughter of Eddy's former coworker, described an incident of abuse that occurred in December 2015 to her mother, who alerted police. The girl also had described the abuse to an expert at Charleston Area Medical Center's Women and Children's Hospital Child Advocacy Center, deputies previously said.

Assistant Kanawha prosecutor Jennifer Gordon said Monday that it was during the investigation involving the 5-year-old that deputies discovered other minor females with sexual assault claims against Eddy.

On Monday, Eddy also admitted to sexually assaulting a family member about 20 years ago. The girl was under age 12 at the time of the assault, Gordon said.

The deal Eddy made with prosecutors on Monday drops other charges of assault and abuse made against Eddy. He previously faced charges of "use of minors in filming sexually explicit conduct and distribution and exhibition of materials depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct," according to an indictment returned against him last year.

Eddy was arrested in January following an investigation, which began in 2015. He remains in the South Central Regional Jail on a $25,000 cash bond.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

A judge agreed Monday to move out of Logan County the trial for a man charged with malicious assault in the beating of then-Senate candidate Richard Ojeda.

The trial for Jonathan Porter, 42, of Holden, now is to be held in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Opening arguments are to begin April 10.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom was appointed in January to preside over Porter's trial after both Logan circuit judges recused themselves from the case.

Bloom held jury selection last Wednesday and Monday in Logan County. A jury had not been seated when Bloom granted a request to move the trial, said Logan Prosecuting Attorney John Bennett. Mark Hobbs, a lawyer for Porter, filed the change of venue request.

Ojeda, now D-Logan, was attacked in the days before he defeated the incumbent senator, Art Kirkendoll, in one of the biggest political upsets in Logan County history.

Ojeda has said Porter hit him from behind with a pipe and brass knuckles and then tried to run him over with a pickup.

Ojeda will be able to attend the trial, as this year's legislative session ends on April 8.

Ojeda has said he was worried that there couldn't be a fair trial in Logan County. The senator has mentioned that Porter is the nephew of former Logan County circuit clerk Alvis Porter.

Logan Circuit Judge Eric O'Briant didn't recuse himself from Porter's case until a television station reported of Ojeda's plans to sue the judge's daughter, Shayna Thompson. Ojeda already has filed a complaint against Thompson with the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which oversees lawyers in the state.

Ojeda alleges that Thompson, while working as a lawyer for the Logan Board of Education, released copies of his taxes to people campaigning against him in last year's election. Ojeda worked at the time as a Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor in Logan. Thompson is now an assistant prosecutor in Logan.

Bennett has said Thompson has no involvement in the case his office is bringing against Porter.

Bloom also has been appointed to preside over a civil lawsuit Ojeda filed against Porter in Logan Circuit Court. Bloom set a January 2018 trial date for the lawsuit.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

SPENCER - A former Roane County sheriff was sentenced Tuesday to home confinement for stealing methamphetamine from a police locker, despite a prosecutor's request for prison time.

Matthew "Bo" Williams had faced between one and 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony charge of entering without breaking for the drug theft while he was a police officer with the city of Spencer. He previously admitted to having a year-and-a-half-long addiction to meth.

"I made a bad decision and it took me down a road I never intended to travel," Williams said Tuesday, before he was sentenced.

Williams stood beside his lawyer, James Cagle, of Charleston, during Tuesday's sentencing hearing. Williams has received drug treatment since being charged with the theft.

Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Pat Lefebure was appointed to serve as special prosecutor in the case against Williams. Lefebure was appointed after Roane Prosecuting Attorney Josh Downey stepped down from the case. Downey and Williams are related by marriage.

Lefebure told Roane Circuit Judge Richard Craig Tatterson on Tuesday that the former sheriff "has brought shame to local law enforcement." The prosecutor asked that Williams' sentence include a term of incarceration.

"He has disgraced the badge that he was sworn to uphold," Lefebure told the judge.

Before handing down the sentence, Tatterson reminded Williams that his actions had led to at least two felony drug cases being thrown out. Plus, investigations are ongoing into other cases that could have a different outcome because of Williams' actions, the judge said.

Tatterson allowed comments from two of Williams' friends and his aunt before imposing the sentence. The judge said he would allow the former lawman 48 hours to make arrangements with officials who oversee home confinement.

Woody Wilson, who attends church with Williams, believes the former sheriff will use the situation to help others struggling with addiction.

"I can't see any good coming from him sitting in a cell," said Wilson, who also used to be Williams principal in elementary school. "He now has the tools to be able to do that."

"He already had the tools," said Roane Sheriff's Deputy C.L. Ruppert. "He was in a position to help people and he let them down."

Ruppert and Williams worked together as officers in Spencer before Ruppert became a deputy and Williams was elected sheriff. Ruppert didn't want to say what he thought about the sentence given to Williams on Tuesday. He and other deputies have worried about the reputation of the Roane Sheriff's Office since Williams' actions came to light.

"Everyone in this office feels let down," Ruppert said after Tuesday's sentencing. "Some people will think if there's one bad apple, everyone is like that."

Williams was elected sheriff Nov. 8 and placed on leave from the Spencer department Nov. 25. He took office as sheriff in January and resigned less than a month later as part of a plea agreement with the prosecutor. That agreement dropped a charge of grand larceny against Williams, which alleged the former sheriff stole more than $1,000 in evidence, including meth, from the Spencer Police Department.

As a convicted felon, Williams can no longer carry a gun and, therefore, can't be a police officer, Downey previously told the Gazette-Mail.

Roane County Commissioners selected a permanent replacement for Williams last month. Todd Cole, who had been serving as interim sheriff since Williams' resignation, served as sheriff in Roane from 2001-08. He also served as sheriff last year to finish the unexpired term of Mike Harper. Cole will serve until an election in 2018.

Cole wasn't available for comment Tuesday. Ruppert said that Cole had talked with deputies about the incident involving Williams.

"He talked about how this causes a black eye on the office," Ruppert said.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.