Man pleads guilty to shooting, killing family members

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A plea agreement was reached Monday morning for a man accused in the murders of four of his family members.

“I don’t think we could have gotten a better outcome,” Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak said. “I feel us working hard and putting in those hours led to plea that is very favorable for the state and very favorable for the victims. This is exactly what we had hoped for, and, again, I feel relief knowing that justice is served and this family can have some closure.”

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

“It was an extremely disturbing case involving children and an entire family,” Rusnak said. “I don’t know that in my career I have seen a more heinous act of violence.”

Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Ballard accepted the plea, which was made by the state and Smith’s defense.

Smith pleaded guilty to charge of one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.

Rusnak said he faces a life in prison for the first-degree murder charge and 80 years total for the second-degree murder charges.

Rusnak said Smith will be eligible for parole after 15 years for the first-degree murder charge.

“It is, in essence, life plus 80. That being said, again, he will start getting parole hearings after 15 years,” Rusnak said.

In June of 2025, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals issued an order vacating the murder convictions for Gavin Smith.

Smith was found guilty in Kanawha County Circuit Court on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, and one count of using a firearm during the commission of a felony in December of 2022.

Murder convictions vacated for man charged with killing family

A judge handed down three life sentences for Smith in January of 2023.

In December of 2020, Smith’s family members were found dead by another relative at a home on Cemetery Drive in Elkview.

Investigators say Smith was 16 at the time his mother, stepfather, and two siblings were murdered.

According to a Kanawha County Circuit Court order, after the murders, Smith was found hiding behind a dresser in a third-floor room of a home along River Haven Road in Clendenin.

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

In his appeal, Smith said the court improperly informed the jury of how long he would serve in prison, if convicted of first-degree murder.

The order issued in June of last year vacated Smith’s convictions and sent the case back to Kanawha County Circuit Court to be tried again.

Rebecca Lynn Walker, who was in a relationship with Smith at the time of the murders, took a plea agreement to four counts of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.

Smith’s sentencing is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. July 6.

Previous coverage can be found here.