CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A new trial date is scheduled for a man charged with first-degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting outside a Kanawha County convenience store.
Jacob Fields, 18, appeared before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers on Monday and, as a result of several factors, had his trial continued to January 26. Fields is accused of fatally shooting 42-year-old Tiffany Adkins as she walked into the Sheetz store in Kanawha City on May 28.
Madison Tuck, the Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, informed Judge Akers that the parties were not ready to proceed with the trial. A new report from the West Virginia Fusion Center, as well as a motion lodged by Fields’ defense attorney, John Balenovich, for the appointment of co-counsel, and a crowded docket were cited as reasons for the continuance.
Fields was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter and wanton endangerment after he told police that he was cleaning his gun while pumping gas when it discharged and fatally struck Adkins. After prosecutors reviewed surveillance footage, the charges were upgraded to first-degree murder upon the determination that Fields appeared to intentionally fire the gun in Adkins’ direction.