GREENBRIER COUNTY W.Va. (WVDN) – A Greenbrier County Grand Jury indicted Terri Lynn Storer with two counts of murder and Randy Lee Barnhart with two counts of accessory after the fact to murder in August 2020. The charges emerged from a shooting incident near the Greenbrier County and Nicholas County line on Coleman Road in Williamsburg. An initial press release from the West Virginia State Police stated, “Through investigation, it was discovered Jeremiah Thomas, 33, and Jennifer Thomas, 34, had allegedly gotten into an argument over a hunting lease with Randy Barnhart, 45, and Terri Storer, 45. During this incident [on November 29, 2019], Jeremiah Thomas and Jennifer Thomas were fatally wounded.” This week, Terry Storer stood trial in the Greenbrier County Circuit Court.
Expert witnesses were called to the stand during the trial to give testimony regarding the initial charges, the scene of the crime, the handling of the said scene by police officers, EMS and bystanders, DNA, and a Faro 3D mapping device used by the West Virginia State Police. Expert witnesses Brenda Butler of Faro Technologies, Inc.; Dr. Thomas Young, Medical Examiner; David Miller of the WV State Police; Forensic Biologist; and Karen Blankenship, the mother of one of the victims, were among those who testified.
The defense’s closing statements argued that “Two tragedies occurred on the night of Nov. 29, 2019. One cannot be undone; the passing of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. The second is a rush to judgment and a determination that this is a murder despite the evidence given here. That homicide does not equal murder, everything we needed to know about the case was known on the night of the murders and no new evidence was given by the State to combat this. That the crime scene was not secure and was tampered with before EMS or police arrived. We, therefore, seek a vote of voluntary manslaughter instead of 1st-degree murder [that carries a life sentence].”
Prosecutor Patrick Via’s closing statement was such that, “The State has heard new evidence this week; given by expert witnesses and the defendant’s testimonies. The crime scene’s security in question is [debunked] by the same account given by the first four people there that night. Terri Storer’s statement given on the night of the murders does not comply with her testimony given this week in which Ms. Storer [did not see a gun before she fired.] Credibility is up to you (the jury) to decide.”
Nearly four years later, the grand jury delivered their verdict at the Greenbrier County Circuit Court. They deliberated for approximately an hour and a half before the foreman of the jury handed the verdict to the court clerk. “In the case of the State of West Virginia against Terri Lynn Storer, the jury finds the defendant guilty of 1st Degree Murder,” on both accounts, where Jeremiah Thomas, 33, and Jennifer Thomas, 34, were fatally wounded.
This charge usually carries the sentence of life in prison, but Judge Richardson approved the defense’s request for mercy. Before sentencing is handed down, the jury will have two weeks to decide on “The Mercy Phase’ for Storer, in which the sentence may be lightened or adjusted. Court will reconvene on Jan. 26 at 9 a.m. to hear their decision.
