ELKINS — A Valley Head man who ran over another man with an ATV in June 2024 was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison this week in Randolph County Circuit Court.

Joseph Lee Shipman, 38, was sentenced by Randolph County Circuit Court Judge David Wilmoth Thursday to no less than two, and no more than 10 years in prison for one count of malicious assault, a felony. Shipman will get credit for time already served.

In July, Shipman plead guilty to one count of malicious assault. In his plea, Shipman admitted to running over the victim with his ATV after he saw the man was walking with a woman Shipman had been involved with.

He was initially indicted in February on one count of malicious assault and one count of attempted malicious assault, a felony.

Before sentencing, Shipman’s attorney, Morris Davis, asked the court to sentence Shipman to probation and said Shipman wanted a condition of his sentence to be that he must complete the drug court program.

Davis stated that Shipman was a drug user who lived in Valley Head, and noted, “with all due respect to Valley Head,” that there weren’t a lot of opportunities, jobs or places to have some “good, clean fun” in the area.

“Because of that, Mr. Shipman used drugs… He started drinking alcohol at the age of nine,” Davis told the court. “He started using marijuana, I believe, at the age of 12. He started using hard drugs at the age of 15, 16, 17, and he stands here as a 38-year-old man, as someone who has used drugs his whole life.”

Shipman chose not to address the court before sentencing.

Before sentencing Shipman, Wilmoth stated the thing that struck him the most was how, in the pre-sentence report, Shipman essentially blamed the victim “for not getting out of the way.” Wilmoth reminded Shipman that, in the criminal complaint, it’s said that Shipman hit the victim with the ATV and then turned around to try and hit the victim again.

“It doesn’t appear to me that you have any remorse for what took place here, or that you even acknowledge that you did anything,” Wilmoth said.

“I have remorse for what I did,” Shipman answered.

According to the criminal complaint, which was prepared by Trooper Brenton K. Riffle with the West Virginia State Police, on June 30, 2024 at about 12:42 a.m., he was dispatched for a “hit and run involving an ATV.” He was told by a female caller that Shipman had run over another man on a four-wheeler and “then messaged her saying he was going to kill (the man).”

The alleged victim told officers, while at Davis Medical Center, that the incident happened at about 2:30 a.m. while he was walking in Valley Head, the complaint states. The alleged victim said Shipman “ran him over… (and) then turned around and tried to run him over again.” He said the incident happened at the Valley Head Post Office.

The alleged victim said he knew Shipman and that the two of them “have had issues in the past,” according to the complaint. Riffle said he observed the alleged victim had suffered “significant injuries” to his “face, eye, left arm and both legs.”

Riffle said Shipman had also sent messages to the female caller saying “im gonna kill him” and “I just ran over (him because she) went with him.” Another message stated, “Yea and if he says anything to the cops ill kill him and he knows it.”