A 19-year-old ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä man on Tuesday received sentences totaling 21 years of imprisonment for the accidental shooting death of Tiffany Adkins, 42, of Marmet, as she walked across the parking lot of the Kanawha City Sheetz store on May 27, 2025.
In a hearing before Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers, Jacob Isaiah Fields was sentenced to one year in the South Central Regional Jail for one misdemeanor count of involuntary manslaughter and to four consecutive five-year prison sentences for four felony counts of wanton endangerment with a firearm — the maximum sentence allowed under state law.
In a statement prior to sentencing, a sobbing Fields told members of Adkins’ family that he was “sorry for the pain you feel†as a result of his actions, and “sorry for endangering the lives of others. It was truly an accident. It was never my intention to have anything like this happen.â€
“My mother was the heart of her family,†Adkins’ son, Cody, said in a victim’s impact statement read to the court before Fields was sentenced. “A part of me died that night. I’ll never be able to hear her laugh, see her smile or tell her how much she is missed. There are no words to describe the pain we have incurred.â€
Cody Adkins, a newlywed at the time of his mother’s death, said he and his wife have taken in the two children his mother had adopted shortly before her death.
“I ask that you remember my mother as more than a name on a case file,†he said.
What happened
Fields told authorities that he had been cleaning his gun while seated in his car outside the Sheetz store at the time of the incident. Although he had removed the magazine from the weapon while cleaning it, one bullet remained in the chamber, which was discharged when Fields “dry-fired†the handgun after cleaning it.
Assistant Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Madison Tuck told Akers that Fields had a history of careless behavior with firearms.
“There are videos of him shooting out of a car window,†she said, and taking part in other “negligent, horrific, stupid behavior with firearms.â€
“I don’t think you intended to kill Ms. Adkins, but you did,†Akers said. “Even though it was unintentional, it was still wrong.â€
Last September, Fields was originally indicted on a charge of first-degree murder for Adkins’ death. He will receive credit for 412 days spent in jail since his arrest.
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