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Rand shooter found guilty of 2014 murder

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County man could spend life behind bars after a jury found him guilty of first degree murder.

Leonard Dwayne Thomas was convicted Wednesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court for the shooting death of Gerald Maxwell. The jury took less than two hours to deliberate the case.

Maxwell was shot inside a Rand apartment building on Starling Drive the morning of Dec. 17, 2014.

The two had been temporarily living at the apartment, owned by Robert Obey, who testified Tuesday. Obey said he held a house party with several different drugs and alcohol the night before the shooting.

During the trial, Thomas testified in his defense. He told the jury Wednesday the reason why he shot Maxwell was because Maxwell had a gun. Also, Thomas said the two had been arguing over a woman and heroin. “I shot him in the head because he was about to shoot me,” he said.

However, prosecutors said no one else inside the home said the victim had a weapon.

“I’m asking you did anyone testify that Gerald had a gun? It is a yes or no question,” Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Maryclaire Akers asked Thomas during cross examination.

“No,” he replied. “That’s correct,” Akers continued. “No body says Gerald had a gun. Only you say Gerald had a gun.”

During his time on the witness stand, Thomas repeatedly said Maxwell was known as a “bully” and constantly criticized him for moving to Rand from Detroit.

“Any chance he got he always tried to disrespect me. Period. He the type of guy that he wants you to be feared of him, period, because he’s a big dude,” Thomas said.

Later on, Akers said because of Maxwell’s size, Thomas needed a gun in order to defend himself that day.

“He’s much bigger than you, a lot bigger than you. In order to win a fight with him, you’d need a gun wouldn’t you? Yes or no?” Akers asked Thomas.

“No,” he said. “But that’s what you used that day to win the fight was a gun, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah, ’cause he had one,” Thomas answered.

The morning of the shooting Thomas talked about wanting to shoot someone, Obey testified. However, Thomas denied saying anything. Another witness, Denise Fitzwater, said Thomas threatened to shoot everyone in the house.

“He said that he was counting (on his fingers) and I said what for? He said ’cause I need to know how many bullets I need,” she told the jury.

Obey also said he saw Thomas playing with a gun at his kitchen table a half hour before the shooting.

Maxwell suffered a gunshot wound to the head and died several days later at CAMC General.

Thomas faces life in prison without mercy. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.





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