Story by Hans Fogle and Marsha Chwalik, WEPM News
CHARLES TOWN. W.Va. — Two Charles Town men will serve life in prison for murder charges stemming from the July 2016 shooting of a WVU student.
23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Debra McLaughlin sentenced Rakeem Newman, 22, the gunman who shot 21-year-old Ryan Mumaw in a Jefferson County subdivision last year, to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Malakye Boyd, 19, received a life sentence as well, but may be eligible for parole after 15 years.
Jefferson County Assistant Prosecutor Tim Helman told WEPM News these kinds of crimes cannot go unpunished.
“We hope that the community sees that we take this very seriously,” Helman said. “This was a violent act and we’re going to put the full resources of our office against it.”
Co-defendants Tayjuhn Coble and Braden Fitzgerald plead guilty to charges stemming from the incident that police say was a calculated robbery. The four
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.
Judge McLaughlin denied the efforts by defense attorneys for a new trial and to have the sentencing reverted back to the judge who presided over the original trial.
Mumaw’s father, Keith, addressed both Newman and Boyd during the sentencing, saying, “On July 19, 2016, you devastated our lives forever. You gave Ryan a death sentence and our family and Ryan’s friends a life sentence without him. You showed no remorse whatsoever.”
Keith Mumaw says he did some research on the pair and said, “No one had anything good to say about you. No job, no education, just robbing people.”
“Both of you are cowards,” Mumaw told the two men, “…hiding behind your masks, trying to catch (his other son) Dylan and Ryan off guard. Shooting someone in the back. You’re a coward.”
“I will never forgive you for what you did that day,” Mumaw said. “I hope you both rot in hell. That’s where you’re going.”
Newman declined to speak at the sentencing, but Boyd told the family members, “I do feel remorse. Every day I think about it. I can’t sleep. I forgive you for the things you said to me. I hope you do forgive me.”
Judge McLaughlin told Boyd that, as a young man, he could potentially be out in 15 years and could make a choice about who he would be after that.
“You’ll have the opportunity to make something of yourself. Mr. Mumaw will never have that chance.”
Both men have a period of 30 days to file an appeal from the date the paperwork is filed.
Co-defendant Tayjuhn Coble has already been sentenced to 15 years with the possibility of parole for his part in the incident.
Co-defendant Braden Fitzgerald entered a guilty plea to a robbery charge in the case and is set to be sentenced this Friday.