CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — A Jefferson County man was sentenced to 15 years Wednesday for his part in a robbery gone bad that ended in the death of a WVU student.
Tayjuhn Coble, 19, of Charles Town, has denied involvement in the July 2016 shooting of 21-year-old Ryan Mumaw, also of Charles Town, but pleaded “no contest” to a first-degree robbery charge in exchange for his cooperation with the prosecution.
The four defendants allegedly made the plan at Coble’s house to meet Mumaw and his brother Dylan under the pretext of buying marijuana, but the intent was to rob the pair of the drugs.
Coble has said he would not have gotten in the car had he known someone was going to get killed, but the prosecution and 23rd Circuit Judge Debra McLaughlin said he could have opted out of the plan several times.
Mumaw’s father, mother, and cousin spoke during the victim impact phase of the sentencing hearing.
Mumaw was remembered as a young man with a ready smile who loved life. His cousin Terry Mumaw said the family is still grieving, but the sentence was all they had to work with:
“The 15 year sentence was a cap,” Mumaw told WEPM Radio News. “We know the prosecutors did their job, but we probably wish that he had more.”
Coble apologized to the Mumaw family as well as his own for the pain he has caused them and said he wishes he could turn back time and prevent the shooting.
Judge McLaughlin said the 15-year maximum sentence was appropriate because there had been sufficient evidence to convict Coble of his part in the robbery during which a young man lost his life.
Coble’s family was visibly upset after the pronouncement.
Judge McLaughlin told Coble while his family was grieving, they could potentially see him in seven-and-a-half years, while the victim’s family would never see him again.
Coble’s defense team asked he be remanded to a facility other than the Eastern Regional Jail after he’s received death threats from co-defendents who are imprisoned there.
He has 30 days to file an appeal to his sentence.
Two other defendants, Malakye Boyd, 19, and Rakeem Newman, 21, both of Charles Town, were found guilty of first degree murder and are set to be sentenced later this month.
Co-defendant Braden Fitzgerald entered a guilty plea to a robbery charge in the case and is set to be sentenced next month.
Story Marsha Chwalik of MetroNews affiliate WEPM Radio in Martinsburg.