CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County man who killed his entire family while still a juvenile will not go on trial for a second time after pleading guilty to four counts of murder.
Gavin Smith, 22, of Elkview, admitted to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for the killings of his mother, stepfather, and two brothers on Monday, rather than receive the second trial to which the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled he was entitled.
Smith killed his family in late-December 2020. Their bodies found in their Elkview area home.
“I don’t think we could have gotten a better outcome. This is exactly what we had hoped for, and, again, I feel relief knowing that justice is served and this family can have some closure,” Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak said following the hearing.
At 16, Smith faced charges for shooting and killing his family, and a Kanawha County jury convicted him on four charges in 2022. The state supreme court ordered the new trial last year, citing an error in the instructions given to the jury during the first trial.
Rusnak explained that the family’s desire to see resolution motivated the pursuit of a plea agreement.
“It was an extremely disturbing case involving children and an entire family. I don’t know that in my career I have seen a more heinous act of violence, particularly by a child,” she said.
Smith faces a life sentence with mercy, meaning he will be eligible for parole in 15 years for the first-degree murder charge because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. Each count of second-degree murder carries an additional sentence of 10-40 years in prison, with the agreement stipulating that some of the sentences will be served concurrently.
“It is, in essence, life plus 80. That being said, again, he will start getting parole hearings after 15 years,” Rusnak said.
Smith will be sentenced on July 6.