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Man charged with second-degree murder

Evans

Evans

PETERSBURG — A Hardy County man has been taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder in the alleged hit-and-run death of Bobby Lee Shoemaker.

Joshua Edmund Evans, 32, of Old Fields, is facing one felony count of second-degree murder. He is incarcerated at Potomac Highlands Regional Jail on a $350,000 cash-only bond, set by Grant County Magistrate Emory W. Feaster Jr.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Grant County Magistrate Court, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on July 14, Grant County Sheriff’s Department Senior Deputy D.L. Lambert was contacted by Grant County Communications. He was advised that a Petersburg Fire Department unit was requesting his assistance at the bottom of Welton Orchard Road in Petersburg.

Once on scene, a member of the fire department informed him of a body that was discovered over the embankment. Lambert observed the body roughly 25 feet over the embankment, and later identified the deceased to be Shoemaker, of Petersburg, according to the complaint written by Senior Deputy K.R. Thorne, also of the GCSD.

Thorne noted in the report that Lambert said there was no evidence of any skid marks on the road near where Shoemaker’s body was located.

During the course of the investigation, officers were told that in the evening hours of July 10, Shoemaker was walking along Welton Orchard Road when a burgundy Chevrolet S-10, driven by Evans, was traveling north on the same roadway and struck Shoemaker, police said.

According to witnesses, Evans was seen earlier in the day, traveling south on the same roadway in the same vehicle, with no damage to his windshield.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., that day he was seen driving north on the roadway at a “very high rate of speed,” the complaint states. Witnesses described the vehicle’s windshield to be “heavily damaged” on the driver’s side.

In the report, Thorne notes that witnesses observed the damaged truck in “very close proximity” to where Shoemaker’s body was located. The last known contact anyone had with Shoemaker was minutes prior to Evans’ truck being observed, with “heavy damage,” on Welton Orchard Road.

During the investigation, the truck was located on Corridor H in Hardy County and secured by law enforcement. Officers found that the windshield was removed from the vehicle and there had been an “obvious attempt” to disguise the truck. It had been painted and vehicle identification numbers removed, according to the complaint.

When the driver of the truck was questioned by officers, he said that Evans had instructed him to take the truck to Wardensville, park it and he would have someone come get it to destroy it, police said.

On July 19, Thorne obtained a written statement from a witness who said on July 14, he was contacted by Evans. According to the witness, during their time together Evans had met him in Hardy County in the Chevrolet S-10 and the windshield had been removed. When the witness inquired about the damage, Evans told him that he had “hit someone and they had died,” the complaint states.

On Friday, Thorne contacted the West Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office for details regarding injuries sustained by Shoemaker. He was told all injuries were to the right side of the body and Shoemaker was killed due to these injuries.

The medical examiner went on to say the injuries were “consistent with being struck by a vehicle” and “speed was involved.” The findings are also consistent with the damage to the drivers side, as well as the direction of travel, and establishes that Evans “deliberately” drove the truck across the southbound lane of traffic, while traveling north, “striking (Shoemaker) launching him over the guardrail and over the embankment,” according to the complaint.

Thorne also noted in the report that the pattern of the roadway was relatively straight and “NO (sic) evidence of braking or evidence of an evasive attempt to avoid striking (Shoemaker) was present.”

The GCSD issued a press release on July 18 seeking information from anyone who may have witnessed anything regarding a “hit and run/homicide investigation” following the discovery of Shoemaker’s body.

If convicted, Evans could be sentenced to not less than 10 nor more than 40 years in the state penitentiary.

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