Ashley Grace Goad, a 22-year-old White female from Comfort, West Virginia, was killed on October 18, 2021, in Boone County in a shooting that also claimed the life of her unborn child. What began as an ordinary moment outside a home on Left Fork Road near Comfort turned into a sudden and devastating act of violence. Ashley, who was pregnant, had reportedly gone outside around late afternoon to look at a friend's new car when Mitchell Caleb Hughes, a 30-year-old man from Racine, arrived at the
home.
According to court records and law enforcement accounts reported after the shooting, Hughes had followed the woman who came to visit Ashley and then pulled into the driveway. Authorities said he opened fire with a double-barreled shotgun, striking Ashley in the torso. She was killed outside the home, and her unborn child, identified in obituary information as Kenneth Dale Sipple, also died. Boone County officials described the attack as random, saying there was no indication that Hughes personally knew Ashley before the shooting.
After the shooting, Hughes fled the scene and the case quickly expanded beyond the homicide. Authorities said he stole a police cruiser and led law enforcement on a chase that stretched into Kanawha County and Kanawha State Forest. Deputies and other agencies searched for him, warning the public that he should be considered armed and dangerous. He was later taken into custody near Kanawha State Forest after an hours-long manhunt.
Hughes was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Ashley and her unborn child, along with additional charges tied to the stolen police cruiser and pursuit. The case moved through Boone County court, but the prosecution was complicated by mental health evaluations. In January 2022, officials said Hughes had been found incompetent to assist in his own defense, delaying the criminal proceedings.
In May 2023, Hughes was found not guilty of murder after the court determined he was not criminally responsible because of mental health issues. Although he avoided a traditional prison sentence, the court ordered him committed to a mental health facility under two life terms for the killings, along with an additional 95 years connected to the police chase. For Ashley's family, the ruling still meant Hughes would be confined, while the loss left behind by the shooting remained permanent: a young woman and the child she was carrying were gone in an act authorities portrayed as senseless and random.
