BICKMORE, W.Va. — State Police have charged a Clay County mother after her teenage son allegedly shot and killed his father in a domestic incident.
Misty Winebrenner, 48, of Bickmore, has been charged with child neglect and failure to report abuse and neglect.
The shooting was reported on Tuesday at a home in the Bickmore part of the county. Witnesses told police that Ryan Bird, 37, was choking Winebrenner in the moments before the shooting, trying to remove her from the driver’s seat of a truck.
A criminal complaint stated a juvenile male exited the vehicle and retrieved a rifle from inside the home. According to troopers, the teen stood on the porch and shot Bird while he continued trying to drag and choke Winebrenner. A small child was inside the home during the incident.
After the shooting, troopers learned Winebrenner obtained a domestic violence order on Bird on December 10, but later the order was later dismissed upon her request.
Once the order was dismissed, Bird moved back into the home with Winebrenner and three children.
Troopers say another domestic incident happened on Christmas Eve. During that incident, investigators say Bird physically assaulted the couple’s teenage daughter multiple times with Winebrenner present.
Winebrenner was a magistrate’s assistant in Clay County and was mandated reporter of abuse/neglect.
“This officer believes Ms. Winebrenner continued to neglect her duty as a parent to protect her children by knowingly allowing Mr. Bird continued access to them. This ongoing failure to protect ultimately led to a situation in which one of the children was forced to fatally shoot Mr. Bird to protect her and her family,” Cpl. J.M. Ellis said in the criminal complaint.