Teen indicted in deaths of mother, stepfather, siblings enters not guilty plea

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – The attorney for a teenager accused in the deaths of his mother, stepfather and siblings entered a not guilty plea Tuesday.

In December 2020, four members of the same family were found dead by another relative at a home in the 1300 block of Cemetery Hill Drive in Elkview.

The victims were later identified as Daniel Dale Long, 37, Risa Mae Saunders, 39, Gage Ripley, 12, and Jameson Long, 3.

According to a Kanawha County Circuit Court order, Gavin Blaine Smith, who was 16-years-old at the time, was found hiding behind a dresser in a third-floor room of a home along River Haven Road in Clendenin.

The order states several articles of clothing were found on or near Smith. According to the order, some of the clothing tested positive for the presence of blood, and the blood matched the two juvenile victims.

Smith is listed in an eight-count indictment on murder charges in connection t the shooting deaths of his four family members.

Judge Kenneth Ballard set Smith’s trial date for October 11.

Another teenager, Rebecca Walker, took a plea agreement in September of 2021 in connection with the case. Walker pleaded guilty to four counts of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.

Investigators say Walker and Smith were in a relationship at the time the murders took place in 2020.

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