CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County Judge is denying a motion to set bond for a man charged in a fatal shooting at a Kanawha City convenience store back in May.
Jacob Fields, 18, of Charleston came before Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers Monday morning in an attempt to be granted motion for a bond in a May 28th case where Fields allegedly shot and killed Tiffany Adkins, 42, of Marmet as she was walking into a Sheetz store in Kanawha City in the early morning hours.
Fields originally claimed he was cleaning his gun while pumping gas when the gun accidentally discharged.
He was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter and wanton endangerment, but after a review of store surveillance footage, prosecutors determined that Fields was intentional with his action of firing the gun in Adkins’ direction, and his charges were then upgraded to first degree murder.
Akers said all the evidence appears to be against Fields.
“Although he did stay and cooperate with law enforcement, he did not tell them the complete truth, and after seeing the video and interviewing Mr. Thaxton again, the police realized what had occurred and changed the charges to first degree murder, which is what he’s charged with today, and for those reasons Ms. Shavers I’m going to deny your motion,” Akers said.
Fields’ attorney, Zoe Shavers, who filed the motion, said testimony from witnesses on the scene, including Fields’ best friend Tyler Thaxton had indicated it was not intentional.
And, she said that, given the fact that Fields is only 18 and has no previous criminal record, the court should show him a little mercy. Shavers added that he has much family support, and they were willing to post their properties in exchange for his bond if Judge Akers would have agreed to the terms of the motion. 
However, State Prosecuting Attorney Madison Tuck said that since Fields is charged with first degree murder, he’s not entitled to a bond.
Tuck argued that the quotes Shavers took from police officer interviews of Fields’ friend Tyler Thaxton are not necessarily justifiable testimony to work with.
“They didn’t save those quotes as some kind of documentation of what happened in the incident, but as a means of getting Mr. Thaxton to talk to them, and as the court knows, the police doesn’t have to be 100-percent clear with who they’re interrogating,” Tuck said.
She said the state didn’t have possession of the surveillance video when Fields was initially charged, however, the video depicts Adkins walking across the parking lot and Fields raising the gun with both hands, firing it, and striking Adkins in the head.
Shavers argued back that although officers are not required to always be truthful with the person they’re interrogating, they wouldn’t say anything that wasn’t relevant to what actually happened, and in watching the footage, Thaxton appeared to be genuinely surprised.
“If that had not happened and they had not seen that on the video, they would not have said that, because that would have not been a persuasive tactic to use,” Shavers argued.
Tuck pointed out, however, that in a second interview with Thaxton, he revealed to police that following Fields’ interview, Fields told Thaxton that he was indeed aiming the gun at Adkins.
Akers said that despite various aspects of the case working in Field’s favor, such as his young age and vast family and community support, all evidence is pointing to a much more severe implication.
“He has the community support, there are people here, there’s no doubt that he has family here who care about him and are concerned with what happens to him, but I cannot ignore the seriousness of the crime that he is charged with or the facts as they are presented by the state.”