MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County Commission appointed Gabrielle Mucciola as the county’s next prosecutor in a meeting that took place Wednesday in Morgantown.
Mucciola has worked her way to the top spot after starting with the office in 2008 as a legal assistant.
“I applied and (former prosecutor) Marcia Ashdown interviewed me, and I knew nothing about the law or prosecution,” Mucciola said. “But she gave me the opportunity to work here at a really young age.”
She has handled misdemeanor and felony cases for the office since 2016. Mucciola has also been recognized for her work with the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, becoming a recipient of the coalition’s Domestic Violence Purple Ribbon in 2019. She is also a current member of the West Virginia Strangulation Awareness Task Force.
“I’m victim-centered and I will always attempt to notify a victim and have a conversation with a victim before moving forward on a case,” Mucciola said. “I’m always open to listening to both sides.”
Mucciola was the valedictorian of her 2007 Doddridge County High School class before moving to Morgantown to attend WVU. She earned a degree in journalism before graduating from the WVU College of Law in 2013.
“Monongalia County is home to me and has been home for a long time,” Mucciola said. “This office has been family to me for a long time, so I hope to live up to being half as much of an institution as Perri Jo DeChristopher and Marcia Ashdown.”
DeChristopher will officially take the office of judge during a ceremony set for Friday.
“I feel like I’ve grown up really here in front of our judges as they have come and gone here in this county, and I really wasn’t ever thinking I would have an opportunity to be one of those judges, but I’m looking forward to that,” DeChristopher said.
DeChristopher believes her more than 20 years of prosecution and courtroom experience will benefit the public and those with cases before the court.
“I think it will allow the staff of the judges’ office, which will be mine, to work really seamlessly with the staff of the prosecutor’s office,” DeChristopher said.
DeChristopher will be sworn 2:30 p.m. Friday and will then administer the oath of office to Mucciola.