April Dawn Mounts, a 35‑year‑old White female from Iaeger, West Virginia, died on October 31, 2018. Her life had been rooted in the small communities of McDowell County, where she was known for her warmth, her devotion to her family, and her work with Hands of Hope Ministry in Welch. Friends and relatives remembered her as someone whose smile could brighten any room and whose compassion guided her daily life.
She lived with her husband, Jonathan Ray Mounts, and their young son, in a home along Coon Branch Hollow Road.
In the early morning hours of October 31, 2018, state troopers were called to the residence after a domestic dispute was reported. When they arrived, they found April dead from a gunshot wound. The quiet stretch of road where she lived became the center of a sudden and violent tragedy, one that contrasted sharply with the life she had built and the kindness she was known for.
Investigators quickly identified her husband, Jonathan Ray Mounts, age 41, as the suspect. He was taken into custody at the scene and charged with first‑degree murder. According to state police, he was held in the McDowell County Holding Unit pending arraignment, with the expectation that he would be transferred to the Southwestern Regional Jail if unable to post bond. Additional reporting confirmed that troopers found him at the residence when they arrived and that he was immediately detained.
April's death was not treated as an unexplained or unsolved case; authorities publicly named the suspect and filed charges the same day. The available sources do not provide further details about subsequent court proceedings, trial outcomes, or convictions, but they consistently document that her husband was arrested and formally charged with her murder.
