CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Police have upgraded charges to first degree murder in the shooting death of a Kanawha County woman in the parking lot of a Sheetz convenience store in Charleston.
Charleston police announced Wednesday afternoon that after further review of evidence the charges against Jacob Fields, 18, of Charleston, have been upgraded from involuntary manslaughter and wanton endangerment with a firearm to first-degree murder.
Police now allege Fields intentionally shot and killed Tiffany Adkins, 42, of Marmet, early Tuesday morning in the parking lot of the Sheetz in Kanawha City.
Fields originally told investigators he was wiping down the barrel of his gun when it went off, the shot traveling through the windshield and hitting Adkins in the back of the head.
Kanawha County Prosecutor Debrxa Rusnak says surveillance video shows the shooting was intentional.
“A review of the video does indicate that he did, in fact, see Ms. Adkins, he watched her and waited for her to get in the line of fire before the shot was fired,” Rusnak told MetroNews.
The new criminal complaint said Fields “raised his Glock Model 20 Gen 5 10mm pistol with both hands” before firing it.
Fields admitted to pointing the gun at Adkins after he was shown the video evidence, the criminal complaint said.
Rusnak said the information quickly shifted the case from an accidental killing to an intentional one.
“That is where it takes us in the eyes of the law,” she said. “It will be up to a jury to ultimately decide what the intent was and if this qualifies for first or second degree murder.”
Rusnak said there’s no indication that Fields and Adkins had any kind of altercation before the shooting.
“It appears it was just someone getting gas (and then walking toward the store),” Rusnak said.
Rusnak said investigations change once more evidence is discovered and that’s what happened in this case.
“As a prosecutor, part of my job is question things, part of job is to ensure we are doing the right thing and that we are charging the right person with the right crime,” Rusnak said.
Fields is being held in the South Central Regional Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 4.