Myra Thomas, a 5-year-old White / Caucasian girl, died in August 2021 inside her family’s home on Elkdale Drive in the Mink Shoals area near Charleston, West Virginia. Authorities said relatives went to the home on Monday, August 23, after not hearing from the family for several days. What they found turned a quiet residential street into the center of a devastating investigation: Myra was dead, her mother Alicia Thomas was dead, and her father Donald “DJ” Thomas Jr.
was also dead inside the home.
Kanawha County deputies described the case as an apparent double murder-suicide. Investigators said Donald Thomas, 29, was found at the scene with a gun believed to have been used in the shootings next to him. Police believed he shot and killed Alicia and Myra before turning the weapon on himself. The couple’s youngest child, Lona Thomas, who was about 17 months old, survived but had also been shot. She was flown to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where doctors removed a bullet from her head and listed her in critically stable condition.
The timeline was still uncertain in the early stages of the investigation. Officials said the bodies may have been inside the home for 24 to 48 hours before they were discovered. Deputies had been called to the residence before, and the sheriff’s office said there had been multiple 911 calls connected to the home within the previous year, including one domestic violence-related call. The other calls involved matters such as complaints, harassment, financial crimes, neighbor disputes, and a report of gunshots heard outside the home.
As investigators looked deeper into the case, Donald Thomas’ past became a major part of the story. Court records showed he had been arrested in February 2021 on a domestic battery charge involving Alicia, but that case was dismissed in June after she did not appear in court. He had also been charged in 2018 with two counts of domestic battery, with Alicia and his mother listed as alleged victims. Those charges were also dismissed after Alicia said she did not want to pursue the matter and his mother did not appear for a hearing. In that 2018 case, allegations described a violent confrontation after an argument, with claims that Thomas attacked both women.
Reports also noted an earlier 2014 case in Jackson County, where Donald Thomas had been charged with wanton endangerment involving a firearm after allegedly placing a pistol to his brother’s head and threatening to shoot him. That case was dismissed after the alleged victim moved and prosecutors were unable to maintain contact with him. Authorities said Donald was the apparent suspect in Myra and Alicia’s deaths, but because he died at the scene, there were no murder charges, arrest, trial, or conviction in the case.
Myra’s death was part of a family tragedy that left loved ones grieving both a young mother and a child whose life had barely begun. Alicia was remembered by friends and coworkers as kind, loving, and devoted to her children. Myra was described in public memorials as taken far too soon, killed alongside her mother while her baby sister fought to survive. The case was ultimately treated as a domestic violence-related double murder-suicide, with Donald “DJ” Thomas Jr. identified by authorities as the gunman and no surviving suspect left to prosecute.
