Inset: Leroy Hunt (Mingo County Sheriff”s Office). Background: Law enforcement investigate a crime scene on Triton Lane in Mingo County, West Virginia (WOWK/YouTube).
A welfare check requested by a West Virginia resident led to a grim find, as authorities uncovered a body concealed under a blanket on a neighbor’s porch.
Leroy Hunt, aged 35, now faces charges of first-degree murder and child neglect involving risk of injury, according to jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
Hunt was taken into custody and booked into the Southwestern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility on Friday evening.
The victim has been identified as Christina Hunt by regional CBS affiliate WOWK, although her age remains unspecified.
The Mingo County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 10 a.m. on Friday from a concerned neighbor requesting a wellness check at a residence on Triton Lane, situated just north of Delbarton in rural western West Virginia. Upon arrival, deputies discovered the victim’s body before entering the home.
Investigators reported that the woman’s body was found covered with a blanket on the front porch of the residence.
A statement from the sheriff’s office stated that Leroy Hunt “allegedly murdered his wife, Christina Hunt, as she was entering the residence,” according to the Mingo Messenger.
But the suspect was apparently not the only person at the residence as he allegedly committed the act of violence. The couple’s 2-year-old child was present, and authorities hold that Leroy Hunt put the kid’s safety at risk when he allegedly shot his wife.
Once deputies found Christina Hunt’s body, they said a standoff ensued between law enforcement and the defendant. After some time, the suspect is said to have surrendered, and he was arrested and booked into jail.
An autopsy is set to be performed by the West Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office on the shooting victim’s body, local ABC and Fox affiliate WCHS reported. The child was not injured during the incident.
