CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia teen accused of killing four family members will be tried as an adult.
The ruling involving 17-year-old Gavin Smith by Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Ballard on Tuesday means the case will be presented to a grand jury and opens the possibility of a longer sentence if he’s convicted, news outlets reported.
Smith was 16 and his girlfriend was 17 when they were arrested in the December 2020 killings of his mother, stepfather and two younger brothers at their home in Elkview. The bodies of Daniel Dale Long, 37, Risa Mae Saunders, 39, Gage Ripley, 12, and Jameson Long, 3, were found shot to death.
Smith was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Rebecca Lynn Walker pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact by helping him hide after the slayings and was sentenced as an adult in September to 10 years in prison.
