Efforts continue to correct financial errors in Preston

April 4, 2024

KINGWOOD — Work continues on financial statements for the Preston County Sheriff’s Department. Melissa Hardy, a CPA working with the department, told Preston County Commission this week that both she and Sheriff Paul Pritt are working to straighten out a mistake. Earlier, Pritt discussed a faulty system that will not allow his office to generate monthly financial reports. He said when the tax deputies input data into the system, it reads that data incorrectly and prints out inaccurate reports. He said the system is one he inherited when he took office. “We’re trying to ...

Dunbar sitter sentenced in toddler’s death

April 2, 2024

BY CARRIE HODOUSEK CHARLESTON — A Kanawha County mother says her whole family got “ripped apart” after the death of her 2-year-old son. The boy’s babysitter is now heading to prison. “I trusted somebody with his life, and I will forever regret that decision,” Caleigh Cheeks testified during a Monday sentencing hearing in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Brittany Napier, 32, of Dunbar, was sentenced to the maximum prison time of one year for involuntary manslaughter and 1-5 years for child neglect resulting in death. Napier pleaded guilty to the charges in February, ...

Hearing over auction of Greenbrier Sporting Club could be paused

April 2, 2024

A court hearing over a proposed forced auction of The Greenbrier Sporting Club could be held off while all sides engage in talks. Weeks ago, Carter Bank & Trust filed public notice to auction the Greenbrier Sporting Club on the courthouse steps to satisfy a multi-million dollar debt from Gov. Jim Justice and his family. Attorneys for the Justice companies, in turn, asked the local court system to block the sale. A hearing in the matter had been set for 9 a.m. April 12 before Greenbrier Circuit Judge Robert Richardson. Now that could be bumped. Lawyers for Carter Bank ...

Former cop charged with impersonating an officer

April 1, 2024

A former West Virginia University police officer is facing misdemeanor charges after allegedly claiming to still be with the department before leaving the scene of an accident.  According to court records, on March 28, West Virginia State Trooper T.J. Roach was contacted by a ...

Guilty with no mercy

March 29, 2024

KINGWOOD — The trial for Luis Martinez-Otero, 54, of Terra Alta ended Thursday with the jury bringing back a guilty verdict of first-degree murder, recommending his sentence be served without mercy. The sentence for first-degree murder without mercy is life in prison without parole. Martinez-Otero was arrested in May 2022 after shooting Zachary Alan Shrout at his home on Veterans Memorial Highway in Terra Alta. Shrout was found still breathing, but suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. He was flown to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, where he later died from his ...

Witness willingly takes stand in murder trial

March 28, 2024

KINGWOOD — Only one witness was heard during the Luis Martinez-Otero, murder trial Wednesday. Martinez is charged with the May 2022 shooting of Zachary Alan Shrout at his home on Veterans Memorial Highway in Terra Alta. Martinez-Otero’s fiancee Heidi Falkner voluntarily took the stand during final arguments and testified that she was staying with a friend in Masontown. Following the murder, both the prosecuting attorney’s office and defense attorneys attempted to find her but were unable to do so. “I was hiding from everyone,” Falkner testified. “I was trying to get ...