Trial set for Charleston man accused of fatally stabbing mother, 10-year-old boy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston man charged in a double murder investigation is set to go on trial later this year.

Nicholas David Hanshaw (WVRJA)

Nicholas David Hanshaw, 38, of Charleston, was arraigned Monday on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 2023 stabbing deaths of his mother Sherry Jean Russell, 62, and a 10-year-old boy, Richie Hancock.

Hanshaw pleaded not guilty to both murder counts during a hearing before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango. He is set to go on trial Nov. 12 at 9 a.m.

Charleston police allege Hanshaw went to the Dutch Miller auto dealership in South Charleston shortly after the stabbings and told a worker there that he needed a car because he had killed someone.

Police later found the bodies inside a residence at Vandalia Terrace Apartments on Dorchester Road. Russell suffered multiple wounds to her neck and the boy had also been fatally stabbed, according to the criminal complaint.

Police said blood was found on Hanshaw’s clothes and he had cuts on his hands.

Hanshaw remains in the South Central Regional Jail without bail.





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