In the early morning hours of Sunday, September 18, 2022, a violent encounter in downtown Morgantown, West Virginia, claimed the life of 34-year-old Marcelius Likely, a Black/African American man. The fatal incident unfolded around 3:07 a.m. in the 200 block of Walnut Street, a busy area known for its nightlife. Likely was seated in the rear of a parked vehicle with a female companion when a man approached from behind and fired several shots from a handgun into the passenger area.
The
driver of the vehicle sped away from the scene, heading directly to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital. Both Likely and the female passenger had sustained gunshot wounds. Tragically, Marcelius Likely was pronounced dead at the hospital. The female victim was treated for her injuries; her identity was not publicly released.
A Morgantown Police officer happened to be crossing Walnut Street at the exact moment of the shooting and witnessed the event. The officer immediately pursued the gunman, who fled on foot. A brief chase through the downtown area ensued, with other officers on foot patrol joining the pursuit. The suspect was apprehended near a city parking garage on Chestnut Street. During the chase, police recovered the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting.
The suspect was identified as Eric Alastaire Sneed, 34, from Pennsylvania. He was taken into custody and subsequently charged with one count of first-degree murder and malicious assault. Following his arrest, Sneed was held at the North Central Regional Jail without bond.
Investigations following the shooting revealed that Sneed and Likely were not strangers and had a history of violent encounters. In 2008, Sneed himself had been a victim of a shooting at a bar in Fairmont, and Marcelius Likely was identified as the suspected shooter in that incident, charged with malicious wounding. Both men had criminal histories. During his arraignment for the murder charge, Sneed also faced an unlawful wounding charge from a separate 2013 incident. Legal proceedings in the murder case against Sneed began, with a preliminary hearing waived in December 2022 to allow the defense to receive discovery from the prosecution.
