Friend Of Family Charged With Murder

By: Debra Mccown | Bristol Herald Courier
Published: July 10, 2009

McCLURE, Va. – Two days after a Dickenson County man was found shot to death, a friend of the family was charged with murder.

Jessica Lynn Witt, 27, was charged late Wednesday with first-degree murder and firearms violations, as Shellie Eugene Stanley’s family made plans for a funeral Thursday and burial today in a family cemetery.

Stanley, 37, was found dead early Monday in his home on Shanes Lane in McClure, a tiny hamlet perched on the hillside along Virginia Route 63 near Clintwood.

Police said Stanley was shot multiple times with a .22 caliber handgun.

Witt had been arrested Monday morning, shortly after Stanley’s death was reported to police. On Monday, Witt was charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer, obstructing justice, being drunk in public and possession of drugs. Two days later, she was still in jail when she was charged with murder.

Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Kenneth Hill said Witt and Richard Howard, 51, who owns the home where Stanley was found, called police around 7 a.m. Monday.

Stanley was staying in the home with Howard, who is Stanley’s stepfather’s brother. Witt lives across the road.

“He was pretty rowdy,” Willie Howard, Richard Howard’s brother, said of Stanley.

Willie Howard said Stanley, who had no job or permanent residence, had a reputation for fighting and “pulling knives and raising cane.”

He described Witt, a family friend, as “quiet.” And, while he knew she’d spent time behind bars, “I didn’t know she was dangerous,” he said.

“All I know, that girl didn’t like that man [Stanley], she hated him,” said Willie Howard, who added that the three were likely drinking and partying Sunday night.

Willie Howard also said that Richard Howard is “all tore to pieces up there. He can’t even go up to the cemetery.”

Witt’s family members had no comment Thursday.

Hill said Witt and Richard Howard called police from another residence Monday. When an officer arrived on the scene, Richard Howard tried to go back inside but was not allowed. Ultimately, Richard Howard was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice.

Witt then attempted to interfere with Howard’s arrest, Hill said, and she too was arrested.

Howard was released on $3,500 bond. Witt was held on $7,500 bond.

Witt’s criminal history includes several nonviolent felonies: breaking and entering, forgery, uttering and obtaining money by false pretenses. She also has convictions for petty larceny, drunk in public and other misdemeanors.

Stanley has a misdemeanor record in Dickenson County with convictions of assault and battery and driving under the influence.

“We’ve got several theories,” Hill said of the motive for the killing, “but nothing we can prove just yet.”

Witt is being held without bond at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Haysi; a hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Dickenson County General District Court.

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701