The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie Shawn Ennis, left, looks over his plea agreement with attorney Paul Gwaltney, middle, and Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper, right.

ELKINS — A Montrose man entered a plea and was sentenced in Randolph County Magistrate Court this week on misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and violating a protective order.

Shawn Donald Ennis, 22, appeared in Randolph County Magistrate Court and entered into a plea agreement, pleading guilty to one count of domestic battery and one count of violating a domestic violence protective order, both misdemeanors.

Ennis was initially charged in April with one count of domestic battery and four counts of violating a domestic violence protective order.

The plea was accepted by Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper. Ennis was represented by attorney Paul Gwaltney. The state was represented by Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Leckta Poling.

Ennis was also sentenced to one year in prison for the domestic battery charge, suspended for one year of unsupervised probation. He will also have to pay a $100 fine.

For the charge of violating a domestic violence protective order, Ennis was sentenced to one year in prison for the domestic battery charge, suspended for two years of unsupervised probation. He will also have to pay a $50 fine.

Both of Ennis’ sentences will run consecutively. As a term of Ennis’ probation, he is not allowed any direct or indirect contact with the victim. He will also have to report to North Central Community Corrections for the Batterer Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP) and successfully complete the program.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Deputy J. Wolfe with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, on April 24, Wolfe responded to a “possible domestic violence situation” at the Hampton Inn on Plantation Drive near Elkins.

Upon arrival, Wolfe spoke with hotel staff and the caller, who advised that the victim was staying in the hotel with Ennis, the complaint states. The caller told Wolfe she was worried for the victim’s safety. Wolfe contacted the victim via telephone and she met Wolfe and the caller in the lobby.

Wolfe and the two women exited the hotel to speak in private, the complaint states. During the conversion, the victim told Wolfe of “past occurred domestic abuse” between her and Ennis in surrounding counties. Wolfe advised the victim of the protective order process and that, if she wanted to, she should notify the other counties law enforcement agencies to file criminal charges. The victim then left the hotel with the caller.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim obtained a domestic violence protection order (DVPO) through the Randolph County Magistrate Court. Wolfe subsequently served Ennis with the DVPO.

Later, the victim contacted Wolfe and said she recalled a “domestic event” that occurred in Randolph County on April 24, the complaint states. The victim met with Wolfe on April 26 and provided a handwritten, signed statement about the incident.

In the statement, the victim said she and Ennis were returning from “the incident” that had occurred in Upshur County and Ennis was mad at her, the complaint states. As the two were walking back to their room at the hotel, Ennis “grabbed (the victim) by (her) hair/back of (her) head and was whisper-yelling at (her) ‘directing’ (her) to the room.”

The victim also provided Wolfe with screenshots from her phone from where Ennis had sent her four text messages, the complaint states. All four messages were timestamped as having been sent after Ennis had received the DVPO, making them all “violations of the protection order.”