CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston man could spend more than two decades behind bars after being sentenced for committing a fatal shooting outside a Kanawha County convenience store in May 2025.
Jacob Fields, 19, heard his sentence on Tuesday and received the maximum 21 years of incarceration for killing 42-year-old Tiffany Adkins of Marmet at the Sheetz location in Kanawha City. Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers sentenced Fields to one year in jail for one count of involuntary manslaughter and five years apiece for four counts of wanton endangerment.
Fields pleaded guilty to those charges in May and admitted that while he did not intend to shoot Adkins, he was responsible for her death. He stated at the time of his plea that he attempted to dry fire the weapon after cleaning it outside the store, but the chamber remained loaded.
“I know I didn’t know her. I know she didn’t deserve what happened, and I’m sorry to her family, friends, and loved ones for the pain they feel and the loss of someone important,” he said on Tuesday.
A grand jury indicted Fields on first-degree murder charges, and prosecutors previously described the shooting as a “thrill kill” and described an alleged history of recklessness with firearms. Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Madison Tuck maintained that recklessness was still an element of Adkins’ death.
“The state would suggest that this incident was not a one-off, terrible tragedy as I expect the defendant to state, but a result of the defendant’s escalating, historically negligent, and stupid behavior with firearms,” she said.
The involuntary manslaughter charge relates to Adkins’ death, while each wanton endangerment charge pertains to a person inside the store at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors determined that the shot threatened three employees and one customer, but Tuck argued the consequences could have been even worse.
“The defendant put countless people at the Sheetz in danger by aiming his weapon and pulling the trigger, pointing it in the direction of an occupied convenience store,” she said.
Fields initially told investigators that he was cleaning his gun when it went off accidentally and struck Adkins, but later belief that he appeared to raise the weapon and point it at the victim led to the murder charges being filed. He stated in his plea hearing that he remained on the scene following the incident and cooperated with authorities.
“I never meant to hurt anyone, and what happened was not intentional or an act of violence. It was truly an accident, and this is the truth, not an excuse,” he said Tuesday.
Judge Akers ordered Fields to serve each sentence consecutively and credited him with over 400 days for his time spent in jail. consecutively and credited Fields with more than 400 days served for his time in jail. He will be eligible for parole in 2031.