PRINCETON, W.Va. — A Mercer County man could spend the next four decades in prison, following his conviction in the stabbing death of a woman inside her Princeton apartment on Christmas Eve 2017.
After deliberating for about two and a half hours, a jury Thursday found Roger Lee Lemons Jr., 46, of Princeton guilty of second-degree murder for the death of 33-year-old Angela Seal, whose body was found inside the apartment by a relative on Christmas Day 2017.
Lemons chose not to testify during the three-day trial in Mercer County Circuit Court. Witnesses testified they had seen Lemons go to Seal’s apartment on the day of the murder, after a domestic violence petition had been served on him. Prosecuting Attorney George Sitler presented cell phone evidence placing Lemons at Seal’s address on the day of her death. DNA evidence indicated Lemons had been inside the apartment and had attacked Seal before her body was discovered, according to a forensic analyst.
Lemons’ defense team had argued the case against him largely was circumstantial, and that the cell phone evidence included inconsistent time stamps. One of Lemons’ defense attorneys also told jurors investigators had failed to follow proper evidence collection procedures at the scene.
Lemons will be sentenced Oct. 4, and faces a maximum of 40 years in prison. He also was found guilty of violating a protective order, which carries a possible punishment of up to one year in jail.
Lemons is being held at Southern Regional Jail.