Anthony Michael Souvanlasy, a 37-year-old male from Charleston, West Virginia, died on December 7, 2023, after he was shot in South Charleston. His death unfolded in the early morning hours along First Avenue, where police said he was found with a gunshot wound to the head. Reports described him as being from Charleston, and funeral information identified him as a United States Marine veteran who had served in Iraq.
His obituary said he was the son of Somlith Souvenlasy and the late Elaina Idel Miller-Juarez, and that he left behind family members including a son, siblings, and other loved ones.
The scene was discovered along First Avenue in South Charleston, not far from areas that investigators later connected to the case through surveillance footage. Police said Souvanlasy had a bicycle with him when he was found. The details released publicly suggested that he had been moving through the area in the early morning before the shooting, and by the time his body was located a few hours later, the case had become a homicide investigation.
As detectives began working through the hours before the shooting, they obtained surveillance footage that became central to the investigation. According to court documents described in news reports, the video showed Souvanlasy following Tavian Jones and another man through the Microtel parking lot and the nearby CSX Train Yard earlier that morning. Investigators said Jones and the other man were later seen leaving the area without Souvanlasy. Souvanlasy’s body was found in that same general area afterward, with police identifying the fatal injury as a gunshot wound to the head.
Authorities moved quickly after identifying a suspect. A murder warrant for Tavian Jones was obtained on December 12, 2023. Two days later, on December 14, U.S. Marshals arrested Jones in Greene County, Tennessee. Police announced that Jones had been charged in connection with Souvanlasy’s death, and he was later extradited back to West Virginia to face prosecution. After being returned to the state, Jones was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court and held without bond at the South Central Regional Jail.
Jones, who was reported as 24 at the time, was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Anthony Souvanlasy. In March 2024, he appeared in Kanawha County Circuit Court and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. A trial date was set for August 12, 2024. Public reports available after his arraignment identified Jones as the accused suspect, but did not provide a final trial outcome or conviction information in the sources reviewed.
