Chasity Chantell Wilkinson Romeo, a 33-year-old Black / African American female, was one of two people whose lives ended violently in Harrison County, West Virginia, in June 2022. She and Corey Steven Snider, 43, were found after a fire destroyed a home at 7145 Good Hope Pike in the Lost Creek area. What first appeared to be a deadly house fire quickly became a homicide investigation when authorities discovered the victims in the basement area of the burned residence and determined that both
had been shot before the fire.
The discovery came after first responders and investigators worked through the remains of the Good Hope Pike home. The fire damage was severe enough that the bodies were found among rubble, and later testimony described the victims as having been partially burned in the aftermath. Investigators said the fire appeared to have followed the shootings, and law enforcement treated the case as a double homicide rather than an accidental blaze. Early in the investigation, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office described the killings as an isolated incident and said there was no known continuing threat to the public, while also acknowledging that a person of interest had been identified.
As the investigation moved forward, attention turned to Allen Leon Schaffer II, also known as “Unc,” a man from Carson City, Michigan. He was charged in connection with the deaths after authorities said the case involved a drug-related dispute. Prosecutors later presented the theory that Romeo and Snider were killed over a drug debt. Schaffer was extradited from Michigan to West Virginia after being charged, and the case eventually went to trial in Harrison County.
During trial proceedings, jurors heard testimony about the condition of the home, the fire scene, and the evidence recovered from the rubble. A former state fire marshal investigator testified that the fire appeared incendiary and was set to cover up a crime, pointing to witness accounts and the presence of bullet wounds. Testimony also described shell casings, a bullet, a shotgun, a knife, and a cell phone recovered during the investigation. Prosecutors argued that Romeo and Snider were sharing the home with Schaffer and another man and that Schaffer carried out the killings because of the debt.
The defense challenged the state’s case, questioning the reliability and motives of key witnesses and arguing that investigators had focused too narrowly on Schaffer. Defense counsel also criticized the handling of potential evidence from the fire scene, including a surveillance system that was reportedly discarded with other debris. The defense suggested that suspicion was not enough to convict and tried to point jurors toward doubt about whether Schaffer was the person responsible.
In March 2025, the jury found Schaffer guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Romeo and Snider. He was also convicted of two counts of concealment of a dead human body, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and two counts involving use or presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The jury did not convict him of arson, with reports stating that jurors were not persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that he had set the home on fire.
In January 2026, Schaffer was sentenced for the double murder. He received 40 years for each second-degree murder count, and the judge ordered those sentences to run consecutively. He was also sentenced to life under a recidivist finding, along with additional time for firearm and concealment convictions. The sentence meant that, years after Romeo and Snider were found in the ruins of the Good Hope Pike home, the man convicted in their deaths faced what was effectively a lifetime in prison.
