In the early morning hours of June 17, 2019, the life of 19-year-old Griffin Richard Lipscomb, a White male from Elkview, West Virginia, was tragically cut short in the place he called home. A recent graduate of the Carver Career & Technical Center, Griffin was just beginning to forge his path in the world. On that fateful Monday, a domestic disturbance erupted between Griffin and his 78-year-old grandfather, Richard Lipscomb, with whom he lived on Sparrow Lane.
The argument escalated to
a perilous point, prompting Richard to call 911 to report the fight with his grandson. During the tense and chaotic phone call with dispatchers, the sound of a gunshot pierced the air. Richard had fired a weapon, striking Griffin in the chest. When deputies from the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office arrived at the residence, they found Griffin unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Richard Lipscomb immediately claimed that he had acted in self-defense, a statement he maintained while cooperating with the ensuing investigation. He was interviewed by detectives, along with others who were present in the house at the time of the shooting. The Sheriff's Office collected evidence and processed the scene, announcing that their findings would be turned over to the Kanawha County Prosecutor's Office. It would be the prosecutor's decision whether the shooting was a justifiable act of self-defense or if criminal charges were warranted.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, no arrests were made. The case was left in the hands of the prosecutor for review. Publicly available information does not indicate that any charges were ever filed against Richard Lipscomb in connection with the death of his grandson. Richard Lipscomb himself passed away on September 14, 2023, at the age of 82, leaving the final legal resolution of that fatal morning in 2019 unsettled.
