Gavin Smith, a 21-year-old West Virginia man previously convicted of murdering his mother, stepfather, and two younger brothers, is set to face a new trial. The state’s Supreme Court of Appeals on Monday overturned his convictions on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder related to the 2022 killings. His conviction for using a firearm during a felony was also overturned.
The decision was made by a five-judge panel on the state’s highest court, which voted 4-1. The panel determined that the trial judge had made a “reversible error” by incorrectly informing the jury that Smith, who was a minor at the time of the murders, would be eligible for parole after serving 15 years of his sentence if found guilty of first-degree murder.
Smith was 16 when he allegedly shot and killed Daniel Dale Long, 37, Risa Mae Saunders, 39, Gage Ripley, 12, and Jameson Long, 3. The issue of parole eligibility was first brought up during the testimony of Rebecca Walker, Smith’s girlfriend at the time of the shootings. Walker, then 17, had also been arrested and charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder. She later struck a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to four counts of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, which included a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and required her to testify against Smith.
During her testimony, Walker stated that she had been facing a potential life sentence for first-degree murder before agreeing to plead guilty. The state objected, arguing that the jury was left with the false impression that Smith would be imprisoned for life if convicted of first-degree murder.
After the evidence was presented, the state argued that Walker’s testimony about her potential sentence and the court’s explanation that juveniles convicted of first-degree murder in the state are eligible for parole after 15 years may have confused the jurors. The judge granted the prosecutors’ request to clarify to the jury that Smith was facing a possible life sentence and would only be “eligible” for parole after 15 years.
Smith’s defense attorney objected to this, arguing that the jury should be considering the facts of the case, not the potential sentence. The attorney claimed that the jury instruction “puts it right out there for them to be thinking about sentences.”
The majority of the court agreed with Smith’s counsel, stating that jurors are not allowed to consider “sentencing issues or other related issues that may flow from sentencing, such as parole or probation, when deliberating a verdict during a criminal trial.” The court further stated that “questions pertaining to parole rights are not germane to the question of guilty or innocence.”
The court also noted that while the state tried to argue that Smith was not prejudiced by this instruction, it failed to provide any legal support for its claim that Smith suffered no prejudice. The state did concede that this penalty instruction “likely alleviated any jury question that someone who had not yet reached the age of 20 would not be forced to spend his entire life in prison with no hope of parole.”
In December 2020, Smith’s grandfather discovered the family murdered in their home in Elkwood, West Virginia. Each victim had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. Authorities believe the motive for the murders was that Smith’s family wouldn’t let him see Walker, who also admitted to encouraging Smith to kill his family.
Smith has not denied killing his family. His defense has been focused on asserting that he had not “formed the requisite intent to be convicted of first-degree murder,” according to court documents.