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Inmate facing murder charge

CLICK

ELKINS– An inmate at Huttonsville Correctional Center is facing a murder charge after another inmate was stabbed on Wednesday.

Earl Jerrod Click, 33, is charged with first degree murder.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Trooper R.C. Watson of the West Virginia State Police, the officer received a call from WVSP Elkins Communications in regard to a stabbing that had occurred at the Huttonsville Correctional Facility on October 23 at approximately 3:24 p.m.

The report states that while in route to the location, Randolph Communication advised that Randolph County EMS units on scene provided the time of death for the stabbing victim as being 3:36 p.m.

According to Watson, he arrived on scene alongside Sgt. C.D. Siler and were escorted upstairs to where the incident occurred.

LONGWELL

Upon entering the cell where the incident occurred, the officer observed a man identified as Allen Eugene Longwell lying on his back with an abundance of blood on and around his body, the report states.

“Longwell had several stab wounds to various areas throughout his body, including the face, chest, arms and leg,” wrote Watson.

According to Watson, he located “a long metal rod that was saturated in blood, filed to a point on one end and bent into a handle on the other end” on top of a bunk that was consistent with Longwell’s wounds.

The report states that while speaking with correctional officers on scene, Watson was advised that the correctional officer on duty at the time of the incident had gone onto the patio to remove an inmate, then conducting checks on the two-man cells.

“When the correctional officer looked into cell 319, he observed Mr. Longwell lying on his back and believed that (he) had fallen out of bed only to discover that (he) had been stabbed,” said Watson.

According to the complaint, the correctional officer locked down the unit and began to do a count — observing Click to be covered in blood.

The report states that correctional officers advised that Click stood up and said that he was the one they were looking for and that he did it.

“Correctional officers placed Mr. Click in handcuffs and transported him to a solitary location. Once Mr. Click was moved, correctional officers then separated all of the cell mates in Mr. Click’s cell,” said Watson.

Watson states that he observed Click’s clothing and shoes to be covered in blood in addition to scratches and bruises in various locations on his body including his face, hands and arms.

The report states that Watson collected the evidence and had officers transport Click to the processing room where he was processed for first degree murder.

Watson then returned to the WVSP Elkins Detachment and completed the criminal complaint naming Click the defendant in the crime.

If convicted, Click could face confinement in the penitentiary for life.

In 2014, Click was determined guilty on charges of first degree murder and conspiracy and was sentenced to life in prison with the recommendation of mercy and one to five years of incarceration, respectively, in connection to the July 2012 murder of Thomas Hatcher, the mayor of War, W.Va.

According to a memorandum decision filed by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in 2015, Hatcher was found lying in his bed in the early morning hours of July 17, 2012 after a coworker became concerned about his absence from work. His cause of death was later determined via autopsy by state forensic pathologist Dr. Nabila Haikal, who determined it to be homicide caused by “asphyxia occlusion of the airway by reported plastic bag/sheet placement of his face/head… It was the State’s theory at trial that the victim was suffocated with a plastic Belk shopping bag that was found behind the victim’s head.”

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