MORGANTOWN, W.Va.– The man accuesed of killing a WVU freshman and 2013 graduate of Fairmont Senior High School has waived his preliminary hearing in Monongalia County.
Robert Hernandez, 33, of Cumberland, Maryland, is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Devonte Waites, 19, of Fairmont.
Waites died after Hernandez allegedly stabbed him during an altercation at Bent Willey’s bar on Chestnut Street shortly before 1 a.m. on Aug. 14, according to Morgantown Police.
Waites was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Using video surveillance, Morgantown Police, along with the Mon Valley Drug Task Force and the U.S. Marshall’s Office Mountain State Fugitive Task Force investigated the altercation. Officers were able to track down Hernandez and arrest him during a traffic stop in Morgantown within 24 hours of the stabbing.
Hernandez’s case now goes to the grand jury. He remains at North Central Regional Jail where he is being held without bail. In first-degree murder cases bail must be set by a circuit judge.