In the quiet town of Princeton, West Virginia, the life of 29-year-old Caucasian male Jason Varney was tragically cut short on the night of October 28, 2018. Varney was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest in the driver's seat of his car, which had crashed into a home on North Wickham Avenue. The discovery was made after police responded to reports of a car accident, only to uncover a homicide scene.
The investigation into Varney's death quickly led authorities to a suspect.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a man flee the area on foot immediately after the sound of a gunshot. This information, combined with further police work, pointed towards Mark Anthony Patterson Jr., a 24-year-old from Princeton. A warrant for his arrest was issued, and within a day, Patterson was located and taken into custody by the Princeton Police Department, with assistance from the Mercer County Sheriff's Department.
Patterson was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Jason Varney. He was arraigned in Mercer County Magistrate Court and was subsequently held without bond at the Southern Regional Jail. The motive behind the deadly encounter was not immediately made public by law enforcement officials as they continued to piece together the events of that fateful evening.
The case against Mark Anthony Patterson Jr. proceeded through the court system. In August 2019, he was indicted on a first-degree murder charge by a Mercer County grand jury. Following the indictment, Patterson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2020. This plea was part of an agreement that led to a sentence of 40 years in prison for his role in the death of Jason Varney.
