Pocahontas Grand Jury hands down 14 indictments on 8 individuals in April Session

The Pocahontas County Grand Jury handed down 13 felony and 1 misdemeanor count after meeting on April 7th for their first session of 2015. Eight individuals were indicted by the jury.

In Judge Robert E. Richardson’s court, the following individuals were indicted.

Ebimael Rodriguez Perez was indicted on three felony counts of Wanton Endangerment Involving a Firearm. He is charged with discharging a firearm in the street in close proximity to three different individuals between October 31st and November 1st , 2014.

Birthel Scott Kennedy was indicted on one felony count of Domestic Battery, Third Offense. He is accused of domestic battery against Tammy Bair in July 2014. Kennedy had prior convictions for domestic battery in June 2014 in Pocahontas circuit Court, and in April 2006 in McDowell County magistrate court.

William R. Ratliff was indicted on one felony count of Violation of Civil Rights, and one misdemeanor count of Destruction of Property. He is accused of oppressing the legal and constitutional rights and privileges of Charlan and Blair Campbell, an interracial couple, when he painted a racial slur on the outside of their business, the Pretty Penny Café.

Angela Higginbotham was indicted on one felony count of Fraudulent Schemes. She is accused of deliberately writing checks on a closed bank account to several Pocahontas County businesses. The total aggregate amount of the bad checks is
$1,202.51.

The following individuals were indicted in Judge James J. Rowe’s court.

Jonathan A. Royal was indicted on two felony counts of a Person Prohibited from Possessing Firearms. Royal had previously been convicted of burglary in Florida; such a conviction prohibits him from being in possession of a firearm in West Virginia. In the first count he is accused of trading a 9mm Luger pistol for car repairs. In the second count he is accused of having 22 caliber long and short rifle in his home.

Sandra Hill was indicted on one felony count of Fraudulent Schemes. She is accused of using another person’s credit card to make a purchase at Amazon.com in the amount of $1,126.40.

Alfred Lee Pritt was indicted on three felony counts of Wanton Endangerment Involving a Firearm. He is accused of pulling a firearm from his van and threatening to shoot Donald Rose and pointing the firearm in the direction of Chris Rose and Myrtle Kinnison in March 2015.

Jeremy L. Kincaid was indicted on one felony count of Malicious Wounding. He is accused of striking another person with a piece of bent rebar causing bodily injury with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill.

An indictment means that enough evidence was presented to proceed to trial. All individuals are considered innocent until and unless proven otherwise in a court of law.

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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