Donovan Nicholson, a 22-year-old White/Caucasian man, was from Belington, West Virginia, although his death occurred in downtown Elkins. In the predawn hours of April 21, 2015, an Elkins police officer found Nicholson lying near the Elkins Depot Welcome Center and Town Square. He had been shot in the head at close range. The discovery came at the end of a disturbing series of incidents that police said had unfolded around downtown Elkins during the preceding several hours.
The events began late on April 20. Richard Foresi, a Davis & Elkins College student and employee, later testified that he encountered Derrick William Adamson while walking through the city. Adamson began asking him unusual questions, including where he was going and how far away he lived. According to Foresi, Adamson told him that if he had not believed his explanation about where he was coming from, he would already have shot him. Adamson eventually told Foresi to walk away and then encountered Timothy Summerfield near the Mountaineer Mart on Davis Avenue.
Summerfield told investigators that what began as a casual conversation suddenly became violent. He said Adamson produced a small pistol and attempted to shoot him. Summerfield reported hearing a gunshot and ringing in his ear, while Adamson repeatedly indicated that the weapon had jammed. Summerfield said Adamson then shook his hand, told him that it was not his day, and walked away. Elkins officers responding to a report of possible gunfire encountered Adamson near the railroad depot at approximately 11:30 p.m. They did not find a firearm when they searched him, but they did find. 25-caliber handgun ammunition. Because officers did not yet have sufficient grounds to arrest him, Adamson was allowed to leave.
At approximately 1:30 a.m., police were called to a Go-Mart on Railroad Avenue after a gold Ford 500 was reported stolen. Surveillance footage identified Adamson as the person who drove away in the vehicle, and authorities issued an alert for both him and the car. While searching the area on foot for evidence connected with the earlier gun incident, an Elkins officer returned to the railroad depot area. At approximately 4 a.m., he discovered Nicholson's body. Investigators also recovered a. 25-caliber cartridge beside the body that was consistent with the type of ammunition police had found on Adamson only hours earlier.
The search for Adamson ended later that morning in Webster County. West Virginia State Police located him with the stolen vehicle at approximately 11:36 a.m. He was taken into custody on a grand-larceny warrant, and a trooper found him wearing a bulletproof vest. After being advised of his rights, Adamson gave an audio-recorded statement. He said he believed his daughter had been killed and claimed that while he was walking around the train tracks in Elkins, a man he did not know told him, "We killed her." Adamson admitted that he responded by shooting the man with a. 25-caliber pistol and also admitted stealing the car. Police subsequently determined that his daughter was safe and attending school. Investigators also found gunshot residue on Adamson's hands.
Adamson was initially charged with first-degree homicide, along with offenses connected to the other incidents surrounding the killing. A Randolph County grand jury later indicted him on murder, attempted first-degree murder, wanton endangerment involving a firearm, grand larceny, possession of a stolen vehicle, and receiving or transferring stolen goods. The attempted-murder and wanton-endangerment counts concerned the encounter with Summerfield and were severed from the charges tried with Nicholson's killing. At an April 29 preliminary hearing, prosecutors played Adamson's recorded confession in court, and the homicide charge was held without bond.
When Adamson went to trial in Randolph County Circuit Court in October 2016, his defense did not deny that he had shot Nicholson. Instead, attorneys argued that he suffered from diminished capacity and lacked the ability to deliberately and premeditatedly commit first-degree murder. A defense psychologist discussed Adamson's history of substance abuse and substance-induced psychosis and offered an opinion that his functioning could have been impaired. Under cross-examination, however, the psychologist acknowledged that he had no toxicology or other scientific evidence showing that Adamson was intoxicated during the crimes and that Adamson had a documented history of exaggerating or fabricating symptoms. A psychologist who evaluated Adamson for the state testified that there was no evidence of a mental condition or substance impairment that prevented him from forming criminal intent and concluded that he did not suffer from diminished capacity.
Prosecutors argued that Adamson's behavior throughout the night demonstrated intent and premeditation. They pointed to his threatening encounter with Foresi, the attempted shooting of Summerfield, his possession of ammunition, the close-range shooting of Nicholson and his actions afterward. After a three-day trial, the jury deliberated for approximately 40 minutes before finding Adamson guilty of first-degree murder, grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle. He was acquitted of the misdemeanor receiving-or-transferring-stolen-property charge. The jury recommended no mercy on the murder conviction, eliminating the possibility that he could eventually become eligible for parole.
In December 2016, Adamson was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for Nicholson's murder. He also received a sentence of one to ten years for grand larceny and one to five years for possession of a stolen vehicle. Those two sentences were ordered to run concurrently with one another but consecutively to his life sentence. Adamson challenged his convictions on appeal, raising issues that included the sufficiency of the evidence of premeditation, admission of his statements to police, evidence concerning the Summerfield incident and procedures surrounding the jury's mercy determination. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ultimately rejected the challenges and affirmed both his convictions and sentences, again affirming them after rehearing in November 2018.
In the days after Nicholson's killing, his family and friends gathered near the depot where he had been found and held a candlelight vigil in his memory. A memorial fund was established to assist his family with funeral expenses, and relatives described the loss as devastating. What began as a series of strange and increasingly violent encounters in downtown Elkins ultimately ended with Nicholson being killed by a stranger, followed by an arrest, a confession, a first-degree murder conviction and a sentence ensuring that the man responsible will remain imprisoned for life.
