Man pleads guilty ahead of Kanawha County quadruple murder retrial

At start of retrial, Gavin Smith pleads guilty to 2020 murder of his Elkview family

On the day his scheduled retrial was set to begin for the shooting deaths of four members of his family in Elkview, West Virginia, Gavin Blaine Smith signed an agreement in which he pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree during a hearing on June 22, 2026, before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard. Smith was 16 years old when he was arrested on murder charges after his grandfather discovered…

Kanawha County man pleads guilty rather than face second quadruple-murder trial

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County man who killed his entire family while still a juvenile will not go on trial for a second time after pleading guilty to four counts of murder. Gavin Smith Gavin Smith, 22, of Elkview, admitted to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for the killings of his mother, stepfather, and two brothers on Monday, rather than receive the second trial to which the West Virginia Suprem…

Man pleads guilty ahead of Kanawha County quadruple murder retrial

Gavin Smith whose murder conviction was previously tossed out by an appeals court has pleaded guilty to the murders of four of his family members ahead of his retrial in the case.

Man pleads guilty to shooting, killing family members

Gavin Smith pleaded guilty to shooting and killing his family in 2020 in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

Gavin Smith pleads guilty in 2020 quadruple murder of his family in Elkview

A man who was just 16 years old when he was accused of shooting and killing four members of his family in Elkview pleaded guilty to their murder.