Laura Tawney, a 48-year-old White woman, was killed on the evening of September 7, 2015, during a violent domestic incident at the home she shared with her husband, Frederick Tawney, outside Athens in Mercer County, West Virginia. What began as an emergency call for help quickly developed into what authorities described as an apparent murder-suicide.
According to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, Laura was able to call Mercer County 911 while the confrontation was still unfolding. She told the dispatcher that Frederick was pointing a gun at her. The call then abruptly went dead, leaving emergency personnel without further communication from Laura and indicating that the situation inside the residence had escalated.
A short time later, Frederick himself contacted 911. During that call, he told the dispatcher that he had killed Laura and said that he intended to kill himself. His statement effectively identified him as the suspect before deputies even reached the residence. Law-enforcement officers were dispatched to the couple's home, but there was no opportunity to take Frederick into custody.
When Mercer County deputies arrived, they discovered both Laura and Frederick dead inside the residence. Investigators also recovered a shotgun at the scene. Frederick was identified as 55 years old in contemporary reports. Based on Laura's emergency call, Frederick's subsequent admission to the dispatcher, and what deputies discovered at the house, the sheriff's department investigated the deaths as an apparent murder-suicide, with Frederick believed to have killed Laura before taking his own life.
The available reporting does not describe what argument, dispute, or other circumstances preceded Frederick pointing the firearm at Laura, nor does it identify a separate motive for the killing. There is also no publicly reported indication that another person participated in the shootings or was considered a suspect. The sequence documented by authorities centered on Laura's attempt to summon help, followed almost immediately by Frederick's admission that he had killed her and his stated intention to die by suicide.
Because Frederick died at the scene, there was no arrest, criminal charging proceeding, trial, or conviction arising from Laura's killing. The person authorities identified through the 911 calls as responsible was already dead when deputies entered the home, leaving the investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths rather than pursue a living homicide suspect. Available reports characterize the case as an apparent murder-suicide and do not identify any additional suspects or subsequent prosecution connected with Laura Tawney's death.
