On a summer evening in Princeton, West Virginia, the life of 40-year-old Caucasian female Tessa Hill was tragically cut short. On August 10, 2019, Hill was found dead from a gunshot wound on Murdock Street just before 9 p.m. The events that led to this fatal encounter began with a confrontation that escalated into violence.
Earlier that day, an argument had reportedly occurred between Hill and Darrell Wesley Hazelwood.
This initial dispute set the stage for a later, more violent confrontation involving Hill's boyfriend, Ronald Ferrell. Near Hill's parents' home, Hazelwood was seen pushing and arguing with her. This prompted Ferrell to intervene, leading to a physical altercation between the two men.
Following the fight, as tensions seemingly subsided, Hazelwood produced a firearm. He first fired at Ferrell and then at Hill, fatally wounding her. Within an hour of the shooting, Mercer County authorities had arrested Darrell Wesley Hazelwood, who was 47 years old at the time. He was taken into custody and held without bail at the Southern Regional Jail.
In October 2019, Hazelwood was indicted for the first-degree murder of Tessa Hill. He proceeded to a jury trial in August 2020. During the trial, the jury was given several options for a verdict, including first and second-degree murder, as well as voluntary manslaughter. Ultimately, the jury found Darrell Wesley Hazelwood guilty of second-degree murder.
Hazelwood's legal team filed a post-trial motion, arguing that the evidence only supported a conviction for voluntary manslaughter, not murder. This motion was denied by the trial court. He was subsequently sentenced to a determinate term of forty years of incarceration for the murder of Tessa Hill. An appeal was later filed contesting the sufficiency of the evidence for a finding of malice, a necessary component for a second-degree murder conviction. However, the conviction was ultimately affirmed.
