Dallion Corbet Lewis, a 37-year-old Black / African American male from Clarksburg, West Virginia, died on February 21, 2024, after authorities said he was shot and killed during a violent kidnapping scheme in Harrison County. His death began as a grim discovery along Jack Run Road near Clarksburg, where deputies found him dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
The scene quickly drew investigators from the Harrison County Sheriff's Office and the Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, and officials soon said the killing was not random. Sheriff Robert Matheny described it as an isolated incident and said there was no continuing danger to the public, but from the beginning investigators believed more than one person had played a role.
Dallion had been born in Clarksburg on January 14, 1987, and his obituary remembered him as someone rooted in the area. He worked in the oil field for Key Oil Company and was described as someone who enjoyed that work, along with swimming and caring for his animals. Away from the criminal case that followed, he left behind his mother, five children, a brother, grandchildren, extended family, and loved ones who gathered for services in Clarksburg just days after his death. Those details gave the case a painful contrast: a man remembered by family for his life and work became the center of a homicide investigation that unfolded quickly and widened over time.
According to investigators and later court reporting, Lewis was taken from a residence in the Hepzibah area and transported in a black Chrysler Town and Country van. Authorities alleged that Dennis Allen High, of Salem, drove the van and that Jennifer Ann Kirk, of Clarksburg, helped lure or deceive Lewis into getting into the vehicle. Prosecutors later described the killing as connected to a small drug debt, often reported as $100. The vehicle was taken to the area of Jack Run Road between Summit Park and Glen Elk, where the situation turned deadly. Investigators alleged that Kameron Darnell Griffin, of Akron, Ohio, had hidden or waited in the vehicle, ambushed Lewis when the van stopped, and shot him during the kidnapping.
The first arrest came almost immediately. Dennis Allen High was taken into custody shortly after Lewis's body was found and was charged with felony murder. Jennifer Kirk was arrested soon afterward and also faced charges connected to the murder and kidnapping. Douglas Ramsey Steiner, of Mount Clare, was later charged as an accessory after the fact, with authorities saying he helped conceal evidence after the killing, including assisting with the disposal or hiding of the firearm believed to have been used. Kameron Griffin fled the area, according to authorities, but U.S. Marshals tracked him to Akron, Ohio, where he was arrested on March 8, 2024, after allegedly trying to flee from officers during the arrest attempt. A fifth suspect, Taneil Chevalier Thompson, who had been a juvenile at the time of the killing, was later moved into adult criminal court and charged in connection with the case.
As the case moved through court, several defendants faced serious consequences. Douglas Steiner pleaded guilty to felony accessory after the fact to murder and admitted helping with actions after the shooting, including the concealment of evidence. Jennifer Kirk pleaded guilty to charges connected to the kidnapping conspiracy, along with gun and drug-related charges. Dennis Allen High went to trial and was convicted of felony murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He was sentenced to life with mercy, meaning eventual parole eligibility, along with an additional sentence for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, with the sentences reported as running consecutively.
Kameron Griffin, identified by prosecutors as the gunman, was convicted in Harrison County of first-degree murder with mercy in Lewis's death. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. In March 2026, Griffin was sentenced to life with mercy for the murder, making him eligible to seek parole after 15 years, and he also received additional prison time on the firearm and conspiracy convictions, including a recidivist enhancement tied to a prior felony. Defense counsel indicated Griffin would pursue an appeal.
By the time the major prosecutions were complete, Dallion Lewis's death had been described in court as a planned and deliberate act tied to a drug debt, carried out through deception, kidnapping, and gunfire. What began with a body found on Jack Run Road became a multi-defendant murder case involving arrests in West Virginia and Ohio, guilty pleas, jury convictions, and life sentences with mercy for key participants. The case left behind the record of a man killed at 37 and a family forced to carry the weight of his loss while the courts sorted through the actions of those accused of taking part in his final hours.
