Jonathan Eric Chenoweth, a 48-year-old White male, died on March 27, 2023, in the Chenoweth Creek area near Elkins, West Virginia, after a shooting that began with a neighborhood dispute and ended in tragedy. Chenoweth was a local resident with deep roots in Randolph County, born in Elkins in 1975 and living in the Chenoweth Creek community. His obituary described him as a husband and father, survived by his wife, Buffy Channell, his son, Justin Chenoweth, and his daughter, Katelynn Chenoweth
Cool, along with other family members and friends left to mourn a sudden and violent loss.
The incident unfolded on the evening of March 27 along Chenoweth Creek Road. According to reports from local law enforcement, Randolph County emergency dispatch first received a call involving a dog that had been shot in the Chenoweth Creek area. Deputies and a humane officer were initially sent to one location, but the call quickly shifted when authorities were redirected to another residence after reports came in that a man had been shot. When deputies arrived, they found Chenoweth unresponsive on or inside a side-by-side utility vehicle in a driveway. Early reports stated that multiple shots had been fired, with investigators later saying seven shots were fired and Chenoweth was struck five times.
The man accused in the shooting was identified as Stephen Ray Cross, a Randolph County resident who lived in the same area. After the shooting, Cross reportedly went inside his residence. Randolph County 911 was able to make contact with him by phone, and after several minutes, he came out peacefully and was taken into custody. Law enforcement initially said Chenoweth was not armed. Cross was first charged with second-degree murder, and the investigation was handled by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office along with the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
As the case moved through court, the allegations against Cross became more serious. In October 2023, a Randolph County grand jury indicted him on one count of murder and one felony count of use or presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Reports described the shooting as connected to an argument between neighbors, with later court documents indicating the dispute involved a dog owned by Chenoweth’s family and allegations that the dog had been killing Cross’s ducks. Cross pleaded not guilty, and while he remained jailed for months, his defense raised issues tied to self-defense and the physical evidence surrounding the shooting, including questions about the trajectory of bullets through the utility vehicle.
The prosecution of Cross ultimately did not end in a trial or conviction. In 2024, a special prosecutor moved to dismiss the charges, stating that Cross’s actions were justified by self-defense and that the State was not aware of evidence that could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had not acted in self-defense. The Randolph County Circuit Court initially refused to dismiss the indictment, reasoning that the matter should proceed to a jury because a grand jury had already returned charges. Cross then sought relief from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
In November 2024, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in Cross’s favor and found that the circuit court had exceeded its authority by denying the State’s uncontested motion to dismiss. Following that decision, the murder case and firearm charge against Stephen Ray Cross were dismissed. That ruling closed the criminal case without a conviction, leaving the official court outcome that the charges against Cross were dismissed after prosecutors concluded they could not disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. For Chenoweth’s family and community, the case remains the story of a neighborhood conflict that escalated into a fatal shooting and left behind grief, unanswered pain, and a legal ending that did not include a trial.
