CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A man admitted in a Harrison County courtroom Friday that he shot and killed his roommate earlier this year.
No motive was given for the crime during the plea hearing for Mason Taylor Lynch, 23, of Clarksburg. He admitted to loading a shotgun back on Jan. 7, walking down the hallway to the bedroom of Brantley Langford, 20, where he shot and killed him.
Lynch pleaded guilty to murder and battery. The battery charge came after he attacked Langford’s girlfriend following the shooting.
The plea agreement with prosecutors gives Lynch the possibility for parole after 15 years of a life prison term. Harrison County Circuit Judge Chris McCarthy is scheduled to sentence Lynch on Oct. 31.
The Clarksburg Exponent reported there were more than two dozen family members and supporters of Langford who attended Friday’s plea hearing. Langford was a former basketball player at Robert C. Byrd High School. He was a father and pipeline worker at the time of his death.