Investigators charged Joshua Deel after his ex-wife and her two teenage children were found dead inside a Lesage residence.
LESAGE, W.Va. — A West Virginia man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder after his ex-wife and her two teenage children were found fatally stabbed inside a Cabell County home early Tuesday, authorities said.
Joshua Deel, 39, is accused of killing Shawn Deel, 39, her daughter, Abigale Sloan, 18, and her son, Dekota Sloan, 16. Deputies were sent to a residence in the 200 block of Hickory Grove Road shortly before 5 a.m. July 21 after Joshua Deel called 911 and reported that he and his family had been attacked, according to the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office and a criminal complaint cited by news organizations.
Deputies found the three victims in different parts of the residence with apparent stab wounds. Emergency personnel attempted lifesaving measures, but all three were pronounced dead. Joshua Deel was found in the living room with what authorities described as superficial injuries and was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center under law enforcement supervision.
Investigators initially treated Deel as an injured person connected to the reported attack. His account came under scrutiny as detectives processed the residence, interviewed witnesses and reviewed evidence collected inside and around the home. Authorities said the violence was confined to the residence and that there was no continuing threat to the public.
According to the criminal complaint, Deel told investigators that he had awakened during the night and encountered an unknown masked person inside the home. He claimed that he fought with the person and tried to help the other occupants after the attacker left through the front door. Investigators have not announced evidence confirming that another person entered the residence.
A neighbor later told authorities that a loud argument involving Deel and a woman had been heard shortly before the 911 call, the complaint said. Deel initially denied that an argument had occurred, according to the document. Detectives also learned about a confrontation inside the home several hours before the deaths.
The complaint alleges that Deel had placed his phone beneath a bedroom door in an attempt to secretly photograph or record a female occupant. Authorities said he first denied doing so but later acknowledged the act after being questioned. The person discovered what was happening, and a verbal confrontation followed, according to the complaint. Investigators have not publicly identified the person involved in that exchange.
Detectives said evidence gathered at the residence did not support Deel’s account of an outside attacker. A suspected weapon was recovered from the front porch, according to the complaint. After consulting Cabell County Prosecutor Jason Spears, investigators charged Deel with three counts of first-degree murder.
The sheriff’s office identified Shawn Deel as Joshua Deel’s former wife. She and the two teenagers continued to live at the residence after the couple separated, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities have not announced a formal motive, and the allegations involving the earlier confrontation have not been proven in court.
Huntington East Middle School issued a statement mourning the family. The school described Dekota as a student who brought smiles to others, Abigale as kind and determined, and Shawn as a devoted mother who shared her care with her students. A friend of Dekota told WSAZ that the teenager’s death had left him shocked and lost.
Deel was arraigned while hospitalized and was later held without bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 30. The sheriff’s office said the investigation remains active. Court records available in the initial reporting did not identify an attorney who could comment on Deel’s behalf, and he has not entered a plea to the charges.