Ray Harold Bennett, a 71-year-old White / Caucasian male, died on December 11, 2021, in the Danville area of Boone County, West Virginia. What began that Saturday afternoon as a response to a vehicle crash quickly turned into the discovery of a violent family tragedy. Deputies with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office were called to a wreck on U.S. 119 at about 3:30 p.m., and when they arrived, they encountered 42-year-old Jeremy Scott Bennett of Danville.
According to reports from authorities, Jeremy Scott Bennett told deputies at the crash scene that he had just murdered his father. That statement led law enforcement to a residence on Arden Lane in Danville, where Ray Bennett was found dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators later said Ray had been shot twice outside the home.
The killing appeared to have happened before Jeremy left the residence and ended up crashing on Route 119 near Bradley Road.
Court information described an even more troubling sequence after the shooting. Jeremy Scott Bennett was accused not only of fatally shooting his father, but also of taking the contents of Ray Bennett’s wallet and his car keys before fleeing. Authorities said he confessed to the shooting, and he was arrested soon afterward. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office charged him with first-degree murder in connection with his father’s death.
Following the arrest, Jeremy Scott Bennett was held at the Southwestern Regional Jail with no bond. Public reports available from the initial investigation identified him as the suspect and listed the murder charge, but they did not clearly establish a publicly reported motive for why Ray Bennett was killed. The case was presented as a sudden and devastating act of violence within a family, with Ray’s life ending at his own residence and the accused being his adult son.
Ray Bennett’s death left behind the image of an ordinary Boone County Saturday transformed by a confession at a crash scene, a police response to a home on Arden Lane, and the discovery of a father who had been shot to death. The publicly reported details point to Jeremy Scott Bennett as the arrested suspect, charged with first-degree murder, while later widely available reporting does not clearly show final trial or conviction details.
