CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A man has pleaded guilty in a shooting that left a woman dead and a man critically injured in Charleston in 2021.
Christopher Neil Smith, 38, of Charleston pleaded guilty to one count of 2nd-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the Kanawha County Circuit Court on Friday, May 20. According to the Kanawha County Prosecutor’s Office, the plea comes with a binding sentence of 25 years in prison.
The charges stem from an incident where an argument turned into a deadly shooting. Officers with the Charleston Police Department responded to a call that a man and woman had been shot around 12:20 p.m. July 26, 2021at a home in the 800 block of Stockton Street in Charleston.
Police said at the time that they found Police found a male victim with multiple gunshot wounds to his right elbow, right shoulder, right flank and the right side of his head. Officers say the man told them, “Chris shot me.”
Officers then found a female victim with multiple gunshot wounds laying on a makeshift bed at the residence. Both victims were taken to an area hospital, where the woman, identified as Amanda Burdette, died from her injuries. CPD said Burdette had suffered a gunshot wound to her left bicep, which exited her arm and entered her body, striking her lungs and killing her.
According to the CPD, the victims had been sitting in an enclosed porch around 12:15 p.m. Monday, July 26 when they were approached by Smith. Police say an “altercation” between the victims and the suspect broke out over “alleged stolen property.” The male victim told officers Smith accused them of stealing his wife’s Jordan shoes. After the man said that he didn’t know what happened to the shoes, Smith allegedly pulled out a black pistol and started shooting him and Burdette.