Haiken Jirachi Myers was a 1-year-old White male whose life ended inside his family’s home on Flynn’s Creek Road near Williamsburg, West Virginia, on December 8, 2020. The youngest of five boys living in the household, Haiken was remembered as a deeply loved little boy who was spoiled by his older brothers and enjoyed driving his toy cars. The children were affectionately known together as “Team Shark,” a name that reflected the close family identity by which friends and community
members remembered them.
The tragedy was initially reported as a devastating house fire. Emergency crews were called to the two-story residence that afternoon and arrived to find the home heavily engulfed and badly damaged. Outside the residence, investigators discovered the body of 25-year-old Oreanna Antoinette Myers, Haiken’s mother, near a picnic table. A single-shot. 410 shotgun was found beside her. Because of the intensity of the fire and uncertainty about how many children had been inside, first responders searched the debris and surrounding property in the hope that some of the boys might have escaped.
The search continued under extremely difficult conditions. Although the outside temperature was cold, the burned structure remained dangerously hot, and much of the house had been reduced to rubble. By December 12, search teams had recovered and identified the remains of all five children: Haiken, his brothers Aarikyle Nova Myers and Kian Matthew Myers, and his stepbrothers Riley James Bumgarner and Shaun Dawson Bumgarner. The boys ranged from infancy to seven years old.
The Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office initially treated the scene as a complex fire and death investigation. As forensic examinations were completed, authorities determined that the children had not died from the fire. Shotgun pellets were discovered in the remains of all five boys, establishing that they had been shot before the house was set ablaze. Pellets recovered from Oreanna Myers also matched the ammunition used against the children, and investigators found her fingerprints on the shotgun recovered near her body.
Authorities reconstructed the events leading up to the killings through physical evidence, bus-camera footage, text messages and handwritten notes. On the afternoon of December 8, Oreanna was seen meeting two of the older boys at their school bus stop. Video reportedly showed a red line drawn across her face beneath her eyes. One of the children asked whether it was blood, and she responded that she had drawn on herself. She then walked with the boys toward the home. Investigators concluded that sometime afterward, she used the shotgun to kill all five children, including Haiken, before setting the residence on fire.
Oreanna then left the burning house and used the same firearm to shoot herself in the head outside. Investigators found three handwritten notes sealed in a plastic bag and taped to the passenger-side mirror of the family’s disabled vehicle. The notes included contact information for relatives, a will and a confession. Another letter addressed to her husband, Brian Bumgarner, was found inside the vehicle. In the writings, Oreanna accepted responsibility for killing the boys, setting the fire and ending her own life. She apologized to members of the family and described feeling overwhelmed by what she characterized as serious mental-health struggles.
Investigators also examined communications between Oreanna and her husband. The family vehicle had recently been involved in an accident, and Brian had been staying with relatives during portions of the workweek so he could obtain transportation to his job. According to Sheriff Bruce Sloan, his absence had become a significant source of conflict. Messages Oreanna sent before the killings expressed feelings of abandonment, desperation and emotional collapse. Authorities said they found no documented history showing that she had been diagnosed with or treated for a mental illness before the deaths.
The sheriff’s office publicly announced its final findings on January 21, 2021. Oreanna Myers was identified as the sole person responsible for Haiken’s death and the deaths of the other four children. Because she died by suicide immediately after the killings, there was no arrest, criminal prosecution, trial or conviction. Investigators found no evidence that Brian Bumgarner or any other person participated in the shootings or the fire, and the criminal investigation was formally closed as a five-child homicide followed by the perpetrator’s suicide.
The deaths left the Williamsburg community grieving an entire group of young siblings at once. Haiken, Aarikyle, Riley and Shaun were laid to rest following a funeral service held on December 17, while the community later honored all five boys by lighting candles representing grief, courage, memories, love and hope. Haiken was remembered not simply as the youngest victim of an extraordinary act of violence, but as a cherished little boy surrounded by brothers who doted on him and whose brief life had been filled with family affection and the simple happiness of playing with his toy cars.
