The second Monongalia County grand jury indicted 120 individuals for a variety of offenses during sessions held May 5-6.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but a formal felony charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial.
Defendants will fight charges ranging from attempted murder to harassment, with the most common charges being related to drugs — primarily fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Charges also include sexual assault or abuse, DUIs, and larceny.
“We presented a large number of cases to the grand jury for the May 2022 term,” said Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney Perri Jo DeChristopher. “Although that large number is a reflection of the fact that a significant number of felony crimes were committed in our county, I also think it reflects the good work our local law enforcement is doing in detecting and investigating those crimes.”
Among the indictments are two men, Benjamin Lee Wilson and William Matthew Wilson, who racked up a variety of charges after allegedly breaking into a Mullins Street residence in Granville and restraining the resident on December 23, 2021. Their charges include kidnapping, robbery in the first degree, assault during commission of a felony, burglary, grand larceny, and conspiracy to commit first degree robbery.
Shawn Michael Hrischisce, II, who allegedly attempted to shoot one man and pointed a handgun at another in March of this year, is facing one count attempted murder in the first degree and two counts wanton endangerment involving a firearm.
Two women, Clara Ann Earnest and Savannah Renee Twyman, were among seven people charged with malicious assault. Earnest is accused of stabbing another woman with a pocket knife in September 2021 and Twyman allegedly beat another woman with a baseball bat in March 2022.
Threat of terroristic acts charges were brought against James Edward Friday after he made threats to shoot everyone inside a Little Caesar’s on University Avenue in Morgantown in August 2019.
Other charges made against those who were indicted include embezzlement, child abuse, financial exploitation of an incapacitated adult, soliciting a minor via computer, burglary, distribution of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, third offense shoplifting, and others.
Defendants who were indicted must now defend their innocence in Monongalia County Circuit Court as prosecuting attorneys work to prove their guilt.
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