Judge postpones plea deal for man involved with deadly Rand shooting

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County judge says he needs more information before entering a plea deal for a man in connection with a deadly Rand shooting earlier this year.

William Lyttle, 23, was charged with wanton endangerment and attempted murder.
William Lyttle, 23, was charged with wanton endangerment and attempted murder.

William Lyttle, 23, of Costa, said he would plead guilty to shooting a man to death and injuring a woman, but Judge Duke Bloom postponed the agreement in Kanawha County Circuit Court Tuesday.

“I’ll take a look at the information, see what I think and see whether this an appropriate plea or not,” said Bloom.

Christopher “Snacks” Carey, 27, of Rand, was shot and killed in front of a home on Starling Drive while sitting in a car on Jan. 23. Latisha Crawford, 28, also of Rand was a passenger in the car. She was also shot, but survived.

Police learned of the crime after responding to a car accident and shots fired call.

Lyttle was charged with wanton endangerment and attempted murder. Another man involved, Todd Hodge, 32, was charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

According to the criminal complaint, Lyttle admitted to shooting at the car Carey and Crawford were in. He then gave Hodge his gun and told him to get rid of it. He said Hodge later told him he threw it in the river.

“What he says that he has was that he had a .38-caliber weapon,” Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Maryclaire Akers told the judge.

Lyttle is suspected of being one of the people who fired shots, but he missed. Court documents allege Lyttle thought he missed with a pistol and that the victims were hit by an AR-15 rifle, but the person who shot that rifle has not been identified.

Akers said they recovered as many weapons as they could that are being reviewed and compared at this time. Because of that reason, she said she could not provide the judge with those reports and evidence at Tuesday’s hearing.

So far, Lyttle has cooperated with prosecutors, she said.

“We have taken statements from individuals. We believe that what Mr. Lyttle has told us is accurate and agrees with all of what we have found,” Akers told the judge.

Akers asked Judge Bloom to explain the case in private for Lyttle’s protection, but Bloom refused, noting it was a public hearing.

Lyttle’s attorney David Richardson asked the judge for a bond reduction from $100,000 cash only to $10,000 property bond, but Bloom denied his request.

“He has no criminal history and he’s not likely to re-offend,” Richardson said.

“I’m satisfied with the current bond,” said the judge. “I think that’s reasonable under the circumstances.”

Bloom said a plea deal would be determined at a later date.





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