James Hambrick, a 42-year-old White / Caucasian male from Charleston, West Virginia, was fatally wounded during a violent confrontation on Charleston’s West Side on August 5, 2022. What began as an afternoon disturbance near the corner of Hunt Avenue and Sixth Street quickly escalated into gunfire. Police said Hambrick was leaving a residence when people in two vehicles arrived, words were exchanged, weapons were drawn, and multiple shots were fired in broad daylight.
Hambrick was
struck in the head during the shooting. Emergency responders and police were called to the scene, and he was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center with critical injuries. At first, the case was investigated as a shooting, but Hambrick’s condition did not improve. He was pronounced dead at the hospital on Sunday, August 7, 2022, turning the investigation into a homicide.
Investigators said a vehicle fled from the area after the gunfire, but police were able to quickly stop it. In the days that followed, Charleston police developed a suspect in the shooting and pursued charges through the juvenile court system because the person accused was 17 years old at the time. A juvenile petition for first-degree murder was issued in connection with Hambrick’s death.
The suspect was later identified publicly as Ja’Keith Kinnell, also referred to in reports as “Mob Jay” Kinnell, of Charleston. Police reported that Kinnell was arrested after the shooting, with later reports noting that he was taken into custody within days of Hambrick’s death. Because he was a juvenile at the time, his name was not initially released in early coverage of the case.
The case later moved forward in court. Kinnell pleaded guilty in May 2023 to second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of James Hambrick. By then, he was 18 years old and could be publicly named in reports connected to the prosecution. The guilty plea marked a major turn in the case, shifting it from an open homicide investigation into a resolved prosecution.
In August 2023, Kinnell was sentenced in connection with Hambrick’s killing. Reports from the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said he received a 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Hambrick’s death became one of several homicide investigations in Charleston during a violent year for the city, but in this case, investigators identified a suspect, made an arrest, obtained a guilty plea, and secured a prison sentence.
