FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Shawn R. Turak, Prosecuting Attorney, announces that the January 2026 Term of the Ohio County Circuit Court Grand Jury met on January 12, 2026, and returned 20 indictments against 21 people.
The Ohio County Prosecutor’s Office cautions that the indictments returned against the following people contain allegations and the individuals named in the indictments are presumed innocent and remain innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
The following people have been charged as follows:
An Indictment was returned against Dwayne Herring, 54, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Murder”, one count of the felony offense of “Attempted First Degree Murder”, and one count of the felony offense of “Attempted Arson.”
An Indictment was returned against Keisha Renee Wilson, 35, of Wheeling, West Virginia, charging her with two counts of the felony offense of “Child Abuse Resulting in Injury.”
An Indictment was returned against Benjamin Adam Winters, 31, of Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with two counts of the felony offense of “Attempt to Disarm a Law Enforcement Officer,” one count of the felony offense of “Malicious Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer” and one count of the felony offense of “Damage of Equipment of Emergency Responders.”
An Indictment was returned against Jayme Edward Taylor, 28, of Jacksonville, Florida, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Burglary.”
An Indictment was returned against Louis David Smith, III, 43, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Robbery in the First Degree” and one count of the felony offense of “Attempted Burglary.”
An Indictment was returned against James Allen Cottrill, Jr., 60, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with four counts of the felony offense of “Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.”
An Indictment was returned against Jacob Michael Kinneer, 37, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Burglary.”
An Indictment was returned against Justin Joshua Bevins, 33, Augusta, West Virginia, charging him with two counts of the felony offense of “Fraud in Connection with an Access Device,” one count of the felony offense of “Counterfeiting” and one count of the felony offense of “Failure to Appear.”
An Indictment was returned against Kayla Rae Cunningham Works, 41, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging her with one count of the felony offense of “Receiving or Transferring Stolen Goods.”
An Indictment was returned against Joseph Ray Courtwright, Sr., 47, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule II Controlled Substance: Methamphetamine.”
An Indictment was returned against Crystal Dawn Sleppy, 44, Bellaire, Ohio, charging her with one count of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule II Controlled Substance: Methamphetamine.”
A Double Indictment was returned against Tracy Lynn McWhorter 46, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging her with five counts of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule II Controlled Substance: Methamphetamine,” four counts of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule II Controlled Substance – A Narcotic, Cocaine,” three counts of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule II Controlled Substance – A Narcotic, Fentanyl” and one count of the felony offense of “Delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance: Methamphetamine” and against Aubrielle Strothers, 40, of Wheeling, West Virginia, charging her with one count of the felony offense of “Delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance: Methamphetamine.”
An Indictment was returned against Shelly Suzanne Brooks, 52, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging her with one count of the felony offense of “Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule II Controlled Substance: Methamphetamine.”
An Indictment was returned against Russell Leland Evans, 63, Triadelphia, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Malicious Assault”, one count of the felony offense of “Strangulation”, and one count of the misdemeanor offense of “Domestic Violence.”
An Indictment was returned against Deandra Dawn McCann a/k/a Angel Williams, 61, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging her with two counts of the felony offense of “Malicious Assault” and one count of the misdemeanor offense of “Domestic Violence.”
An Indictment was returned against Charles Edward Hutter, 60, Triadelphia, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Possession of Material Visually Portraying Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct.”
An Indictment was returned against Gage Allen Heckman, 22, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with one count of the felony offense of “Possession of Material Visually Portraying Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct,” and two counts of the felony offense of “Use of Minors in Filming Sexually Explicit Conduct.”
An Indictment was returned against James Allen Hunter, 53, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with seven counts of the felony offense of “Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.”
An Indictment was returned against Elvis Adrian Castillo, 21, Patterson, New Jersey, charging him with two counts of the felony offense of “Reckless Fleeing in a Vehicle.”
An Indictment was returned against Brandon Gilbert Ramsey, 42, Wheeling, West Virginia, charging him with four counts of the felony offense of “Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, Second Offense.”
The individuals indicted and assigned to the Honorable Judge Michael J. Olejasz are required to appear at the Ohio County Docket Day on January 23, 2026, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and the individuals indicted and assigned to the Honorable David J. Sims are required to appear at the Ohio County Docket Day on January 22, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. 4
