On April 28, 2020, 36-year-old Mitchell Clay Smith, a White male from Leon, West Virginia, was found deceased. His body was discovered by troopers after he had been reported missing the day before. The investigation into his death quickly shifted from a missing person case to a homicide.
Investigators determined that Smith, along with two other individuals, Franklin Long, 21, and Samantha Young, 29, had gone to an abandoned house in Leon. Their purpose for visiting the residence was reportedly to conduct a drug deal.
It was at this location that the events leading to Smith's death unfolded.
State police arrested Giles Hysell, a 41-year-old man also from Leon, and charged him with murder in connection with Smith's shooting death. According to authorities, Hysell had been hiding inside the abandoned house and shot Smith. Following the investigation, both Long and Young were also charged in connection with the incident. Hysell was subsequently held in the Western Regional Jail without bail.
