Gavin Smith, 18, enters the courtroom of Kanawha Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard at the start of Smith’s murder trial. He is accused of killing his mother, his stepfather and his two younger brothers in late 2020.
Gavin Smith sits Thursday with defense attorney John Sullivan in Kanawha Circuit Court before a jury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one count of use or presentment of a firearm in the shooting deaths of four family members in late 2020.
Gavin Smith (center) stands with attorneys Allen Barry (left) and John Sullivan after the jury announced its verdict Thursday. Smith faces life in prison for each of three counts of first-degree murder when he’s sentenced Jan. 17. However, because Smith was 16 at the time of the crimes, West Virginia law requires that he be eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison.
Gavin Smith, 18, enters the courtroom of Kanawha Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard at the start of Smith’s murder trial. He is accused of killing his mother, his stepfather and his two younger brothers in late 2020.
Gavin Smith sits Thursday with defense attorney John Sullivan in Kanawha Circuit Court before a jury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one count of use or presentment of a firearm in the shooting deaths of four family members in late 2020.
Gavin Smith (center) stands with attorneys Allen Barry (left) and John Sullivan after the jury announced its verdict Thursday. Smith faces life in prison for each of three counts of first-degree murder when he’s sentenced Jan. 17. However, because Smith was 16 at the time of the crimes, West Virginia law requires that he be eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison.
A Kanawha County jury on Thursday found Elkview teenager Gavin Smith guilty of first-degree murder on three counts, and of second-degree murder on one count, in the shooting deaths of four family members in late 2020.
Smith, 18, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the Dec. 9, 2020, shooting deaths of his mother, Risa Saunders, stepfather Daniel Long and 3-year-old brother Jameson Long. The one count of second-degree murder was for the shooting of his 12-year-old brother, Gage Ripley.
The four were found shot to death inside their home on Cemetery Drive on Dec. 13, 2020.
Smith also was found guilty of one count of use or presentment of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard on Wednesday granted defense attorney John Sullivan’s motion to dismiss three other counts of use or presentment of a firearm in the commission of a felony after he argued that the indictment had not indicated which count corresponded with which victim. Assistant Prosecutor JC MacCallum said prosecutors did not oppose dropping the three charges, for simplicity’s sake.
Sullivan acknowledged during the trial that Smith killed the four, but he argued that the deaths did not meet the legal definition of first-degree murder because he did not act with malice. Smith felt isolated while attending school virtually during COVID-19 and was made to care for his 3-year-old brother, Sullivan argued.
The teenager’s co-defendant and girlfriend, Rebecca Walker, testified that Smith killed the four because he wanted to be with her, and his parents did not allow him to. Walker pleaded guilty last year to four counts of accessory after the fact and is serving a 10-year sentence for her role in the crime. Walker helped Smith hide in the days after the shooting.
The jury began deliberations around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, the third day of the trial, and returned a verdict around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Smith faces life in prison for each of the three counts of first-degree murder and 10 to 40 years for second-degree murder.
Because Smith was 16 at the time of the crimes, West Virginia law requires that he be eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison.
Ballard will sentence Smith at 9 a.m. on Jan. 17.
CLICK HERE to follow the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Gazette-Mail and receive
