Brickles

MARLINGTON – A Randolph County man was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and two other charges after firing a gun into a Durbin home in 2025, resulting in the death of a man inside the residence.

After a seven-day trial, a jury found Jason Franklin Brickles, 48, of Valley Head, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a misdemeanor, and guilty of two counts of wanton endangerment with a firearm, a felony, in the 2025 shooting death of Christopher Matheny.

Brickles was initially indicted by the Pocahontas County Grand Jury with one count of first-degree murder, one count of use or presentment of a firearm during the commission of a felony, four counts of wanton endangerment with a firearm and two counts of destruction of property, all felonies, according to the Pocahontas Circuit Court Clerk’s Office.

Greenbrier and Pocahontas County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Via presided over the trial, with the state being represented by Pocahontas County Prosecuting Attorney Laura M. Kershner. Brickles was represented by Ty Nestor of Elkins.

“There weren’t any true winners in this case because nothing can bring Christopher Matheny back to us. Mr. Brickles and I know and understand that Christopher was a very good man with an excellent family,” Nestor said in a press release. “This was an emotional case for everyone involved. However, my client and I are both extremely pleased with the outcome because it was the proper outcome in the eyes of the law.”

Nestor asked the court to issue a bond for Brickles; however, Via denied bond due to the wanton endangerment charges, according to the Pocahontas Circuit Court Clerk’s Office.

Brickles will be sentenced on April 2.

According to the criminal complaint against Brickles, prepared by Cpl. D.M. Brock of the West Virginia State Police, on Jan. 1, 2025, Brock was dispatched to Oak Drive in the Durbin area for a report of a shooting.

On the scene, Brock learned that Matheny “had died as a result of a gunshot wound to his lower abdomen,” the complaint states. “Witnesses at the scene identified the shooter as Jason Brickles.”

Video surveillance footage of the residence showed a utility van pull into the driveway, followed by a white pickup truck, according to the complaint. The van’s driver can be seen exiting the vehicle and entering the residence.

The complaint states that two gunshots can then be heard on the video, and then Brickles can be heard saying, “Where’d you go, you piece of s***?” Two more gunshots are then heard on the video, and then Brickles can be seen walking toward the front steps with a gun in his hand, saying “I’ll f****** kill you next time.”

Matheny was seated on a couch directly behind the front door of the home, according to the complaint. One of the bullets struck him in the left side. “This wound proved to be fatal,” Brock wrote.

Officers located two bullet holes in the driver’s side door of the van, one bullet hole in the side of the residence and one through the home’s front door, the complaint states.

Brock wrote that six people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, including two juveniles.

Brickles had left the scene, and was later located by Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies at his residence near Valley Head, according to the complaint.

Questioned by officers, Brickles said he had a confrontation with the van driver because the driver “had kidnapped and raped his wife,” the complaint states. Brickles said he fired rounds into a home that the van driver ran into, and “stated he did not intend to kill Mr. Matheny.”