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ELKINS -- A Randolph County man was arrested and has been charged with second-degree murder after an incident Monday evening on Chenoweth Creek Road.
Stephen Ray Cross, 54, was taken into custody after a shooting that took the life of Jonathan Chenoweth, Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon said.
Cross was transported to Tygart Valley Regional Jail, where he is awaiting arraignment.
According to the criminal complaint, on Monday at approximately 5:05 p.m., officers with the Randolph County Sheriff's Office and West Virginia State Police responded to a call of shots fired at 5185 Chenoweth Creek Road.
The complaint states that while en route to the scene, officers learned there was one shooting victim with a gunshot wound, but were unable to get to the victim due to the fact that the alleged shooter was still inside the residence.
After a short time, Cross exited a side door of the residence, the complaint states.
"Myself and three other deputies were able to talk him out of the residence," said Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon. "We were very happy to get him out without any further incident."
According to the criminal complaint, officers observed a UTV with a man -- later identified as Chenoweth -- slumped over the center console, who appeared to have suffered a fatal gunshot wound. Police observed at least three bullet holes through the front windshield of the UTV.
After Cross was placed under arrest, he was transported to the Randolph County Sheriff's Office to be interviewed, the complaint states. Cross advised law enforcement officers that he did not want to speak to them and would like to speak with an attorney.
Officers with the Mountain Region Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force obtained two search warrants from the Randolph County Magistrate Court and responded to the crime scene to serve the warrants for clothing and firearms, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint states officers obtained a written statement from a witness to the incident. The witness told police that he was speaking to Cross, who admitted to shooting a dog that might have belonged to a relative of Chenoweth. The witness said he observed Chenoweth, who he said had no weapons, pull into the driveway, after which Cross opened fire, shooting five to eight times.
"We're still gathering more information on the alleged dog being shot as part of this," Elbon told The Inter-Mountain. "We've heard that it was either the victim's dog or his (relative's) dog, but we've been getting some conflicting stories, so we are still looking into it. We haven't been able to find the dog yet, but we're looking."
Before officers were dispatched to the shooting scene, Randolph 911 received a call about a person shooting a dog on Chenoweth Creek Road. Officers were redirected to Cross' residence.
According to the complaint, the witness stated Cross was standing approximately 5 to 10 feet away behind a white van when he observed him produce a sidearm and open fire on Chenoweth. While processing the scene, a total of seven spent shell casings from a 9mm gun were located. No weapons were found near the victim.
"(Chenoweth) had no weapons on him," Elbon told The Inter-Mountain. "We did recover several 9 millimeters and we are pretty sure that we have the one that was used."
According to Elbon's post, Chenoweth was hit by five of the seven shots that were fired.
Elbon said no bond was set after the Cross arrest because magistrates are unable to set bond for a capital offense that can lead to life in prison.
"First-degree murder, second-degree murder, anything like that, the magistrate can't set a bond on," he said. "He will be arraigned by a circuit judge."
The Elkins Police Department, Randolph County Emergency Squad and Randolph County Humane Officer assisted at the scene. The case is still under investigation by the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Anyone who may have information about the case is asked to call 911.