Bryant

ELKINS — A plea deal for a Harman man accused of murder was finalized during a Randolph County Circuit Court hearing Friday, with the charge being reduced to voluntary manslaughter.

Dallas Ray Bryant, 71, had been indicted in June on one felony count of murder, one felony count of use or presentation of a firearm during commission of a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of false information.

Bryant was arrested in November 2023 in the death of Preston L. “Patch” Higgins, 66, of Ward Road.

Bryant’s plea hearing had been scheduled for December, but was pushed back nearly a month to Friday at the request of both Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Parker and Bryant’s counsel.

According to the plea deal, Bryant may be sentenced to between three to 15 years in prison, but Circuit Judge David Wilmoth must pick a definitive amount of time during the sentencing.

The sentencing will take place at a later date.

Due to an early press deadline, a full account of Friday’s plea deal hearing will be published in a future edition of The Inter-Mountain.

According to the criminal complaint, West Virginia State Police found Higgins in his driveway on November 13, 2023 with a gunshot wound to his chest, along with a bruise/abrasion to his forehead.

A press release from the Elkins Detachment of the State Police said crime scene evidence and witness information led them to consider Bryant a person of interest in the case. 

According to the criminal complaint, “video footage from the Smoker Friendly liquor store in Elkins” showed Higgins to be in the store at about 3:50 p.m. on Nov. 13 with Bryant.

“After several mirandized interviews were conducted, (Bryant) subsequently admitted to no one else being at (Higgins’) house with them during these events,” the complaint states.

“The defendant also admitted that a fight had taken place in the driveway and there was a struggle over a gun,” according to the complaint. “The defendant admitted during the struggle, he blacked out, and if he was blacked out and gotten a hold of that gun he would have shot the victim.

“The defendant also admitted that at daylight he got his truck keys to leave, and seen the victim laying there along with the gun,” the complaint states. “He admitted to grabbing the gun and leaving the scene. The defendant admitted he threw the gun over a guardrail on Rich Mountain Road of U.S. 33.”

Trooper B. K. Riffle of the Elkins Detachment is the investigating officer in the case.

Higgins was known throughout the Elkins area, and was a former employee with the City of Elkins, working as a custodian at City Hall and for the Street Department.

A neighbor who lived close to Higgins and wished to remain anonymous told The Inter-Mountain that Higgins had lived at his home on the Ward Road for more than 20 years.