Richard E. Crowder, a 74-year-old White/Caucasian male, was found dead on February 13, 2024, inside his home on Otter Lane in the Mink Shoals area of Kanawha County, just outside Charleston, West Virginia. The discovery began as a welfare concern, after a health care worker who checked on senior citizens could not get Crowder to come to the door. Deputies and medics responded to the residence that morning and found him lying on the floor inside the home.
Authorities said he had suffered a gunshot wound, and from the beginning, the circumstances were treated as suspicious.
In the first days after Crowder’s death, Kanawha County authorities publicly identified him and confirmed that the investigation remained active. Reports described the home as a mobile home on Otter Lane, and investigators worked the scene while an autopsy and forensic review were underway. The case carried the quiet, unsettling feel of a private home suddenly becoming a crime scene, with Crowder found not by chance but because someone who expected to hear from him realized something was wrong.
Months later, investigators announced an arrest. Brittany Hickman, 35, of Elkview, West Virginia, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Crowder’s death. Deputies said their investigation determined that Hickman had been the last person known to have seen Crowder alive and that she was found nearby on the day his body was discovered. According to reports citing court documents and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, investigators collected evidence they believed placed her at the scene.
The evidence described in the case became central to the charge against Hickman. Court documents reported that Crowder was found dead from a gunshot wound and covered with a blanket. Investigators said gunshot residue was found on Hickman’s clothing, Crowder’s blood was found on her shirt, and blood collected from Hickman’s feet was later confirmed by the West Virginia State Police forensic lab to be Crowder’s. Reports also said Hickman’s DNA was found on the hammer of a shotgun located inside Crowder’s home. Investigators stated that they did not find evidence placing anyone other than Hickman with Crowder during the estimated time of death, which was described as sometime between Sunday, February 11, and Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
Hickman was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court after her arrest and was held without bond at South Central Regional Jail. A Kanawha County grand jury later indicted her on charges including first-degree murder, use and presentment of a firearm during the commission of a felony, burglary, petit larceny, obstruction, and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. She later entered a not guilty plea after the indictment. Publicly available reports reviewed did not show a conviction or final trial outcome, leaving the case in the court process with Hickman accused of killing Crowder and facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
