CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County police made quick work of information they received Friday from a woman who cut a plea deal with prosecutors in a murder case.
Deputies arrested Miguel Quinones, 36, of Charleston, and Deveron Patterson, 26 of Beckley, and charged them with last fall’s murder of Charleston resident Kareem Hunter.
Earlier Friday, Kelsey Legg, 20, of Marmet, admitted she was an accessory to two men after they murdered the 29-year-old Hunter last year. She also admitted to helping dispose of the body. Hunter was killed in Legg’s apartment. She has told police she knew who did it, 12 hours later Quinones and Patterson were in custody. Legg was originally charged with murder and kidnapping. Those charges were dropped Friday as part of the plea bargain.
Legg faces a maximum of 2 to 13 years in prison when she’s sentenced April 24. Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib ruled Friday could spend until then on home confinement.
That decision angered Hunter’s family. Some walked out of the courtroom. They want Legg behind bars for her part in the crime. However, Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants said this was a deal his office had to make.
“This agreement was to build a case against the person who actually committed this murder. This is still an ongoing investigation and this was a huge step forward in solving this murder,” explained Plants after the plea hearing.
Hunter was reported missing back in September. Legg was taken into custody a week later after a large amount of blood was discovered in her Marmet apartment. Hunter’s body was found six weeks later in a shallow grave in Raleigh County.
Plants said he understood why the victim’s family was so upset about the plea, however, he needs Legg’s cooperation.
“There’s no evidence that this defendant was involved in any way in actually committing the murder. She was involved, but in order to catch that person this [plea] had to happen. That’s just the bottom line,” Plants stressed.
Patterson was arrested near his home in Beckley and Quinones was charged at the Southern Regional Jail where he is in custody for a probation violation in connection with a Fayette County murder conviction.