Walter Webster Elmore II, a 42-year-old Black / African American male, died after a violent early-morning shooting in Logan County, West Virginia, on October 13, 2024. Online reports identify him as being from Logan or Huntington, with ties to Logan, and say the incident unfolded in the Ethel area near WV Route 17. What first appeared to be a single-vehicle crash quickly became a homicide investigation when authorities learned that Elmore, the driver, had suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach or abdominal area.
Trooper Z.K. Bragg of the West Virginia State Police was dispatched shortly after 3:00 a.m. to the crash scene along Route 17. As responders made their way there, they were told the driver had been shot. Elmore was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center, but he was later pronounced dead.
Investigators determined that the shooting itself had not happened at the crash site, but at a nearby residence in the Ethel area of Logan County.
State police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Darius James Stanton of Columbus, Ohio. Authorities alleged that Stanton shot Elmore at the residence before Elmore was later found wounded in the vehicle after the crash. Troopers investigated the nearby crime scene, executed a search warrant, and developed Stanton as the suspect in the shooting.
Stanton was located after a traffic stop on Pond Fork Road in Boone County, West Virginia. He was arrested, processed at the West Virginia State Police Logan Detachment, and transported to Southwestern Regional Jail. Reports stated that Stanton was charged with first-degree murder and was being held without bail or held pending trial. Some reporting described the case as active and ongoing at the time, and the publicly available online reports reviewed did not show a trial outcome, conviction, or sentencing information.
