CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Maryland man will spend the next 10 years in West Virginia state prison for a 2025 killing on Charleston’s East End.
Joshua Scales, 34, appeared before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Carrie Webster on Tuesday to be sentenced after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of St. Albans resident Ethan Chic-Colbert.
Chic-Colbert was shot and killed in a parked car on Elizabeth St. in Charleston in January 2025. Police later arrested Scales using information from a lottery ticket found in a getaway car.
Attorneys for Scales attempted to argue for a sentence of home confinement, but Webster denied that request because Scales’ plea agreement requires him to be incarcerated. Webster noted that even if she was not bound by the plea, the request would have been denied.
“I would not have considered somebody who has entered a plea to voluntary manslaughter that involved the death of another person an appropriate individual for home confinement,” she said.
Scales was described in letters of support by family and friends as a once-promising athlete who went down the wrong path after being suspended from college. Webster read from several of those letters, including one from Scales’ grandfather.
“He said it’s painful to look back at all the possibilities that were in front of him and see how drastically his life has changed,” she said.
Chic-Colbert’s family did not appear in the courtroom, but assistant prosecuting attorney Jordan Gunnoe read from a letter submitted on their behalf. It explained that life cannot go on the same without their family member.
“Our family continues to grieve the events that took place last year. Emotionally, this has been an extremely difficult journey for all of us. The impact of Ethan’s loss has been profound and continues to affect us every day,” Gunnoe read.
Scales was previously charged with first-degree murder and wanton endangerment in Chic-Colbert’s death.