The December murder trial of Edward Smith-Allen has been canceled due to a potential plea deal.
According to the Greenbrier County Circuit Clerk’s Office, during the Wednesday, December 1, final pre-trial hearing, Smith-Allen agreed to negotiate a plea deal rather than continue to trial. As of press time, it is unclear if a plea deal has already been agreed to or is beginning to be negotiated. One has not yet been filed with the Circuit Clerk’s office.
Smith-Allen was indicted by a grand jury in October 2019 for the murder of Alaisia M. Smith. On June 7, 2019, Lewisburg police responded to an emergency call, finding a juvenile suffering from a gunshot wound in a vehicle parked in Dorie Miller Park. The Lewisburg Police Department later confirmed Smith was the victim, whose obituary stated she passed away on June 8 while in the
care of Charleston Area Medical Center.
Smith-Allen’s trial has hit several delays over the past nearly two years. In February 2020, a trial was set for April that year. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the United States, shutdowns prevented it from happening.
A spike in Greenbrier County COVID-19 cases, putting the county in the red on the Harvard COVID map, and an illness with Dr. Allan Mock, who performed the autopsy, pushed back the trial dates set in December 2020, April 2021, July 2021, and September 2021.
In a hearing on August 30, pushing the September trial date back to December due to the Delta variant of COVID-19, Defense Attorney Kristopher Faerber, voiced an objection to more continuances.
“I’ve reviewed the facts in regard to the medical examiner and the Harvard COVID map,” said Faerber. “I understand the conditions there with no contest to that fact. We are still looking for a trial judge. We object to any continuance and continue our demand for a speedy trial on this matter.”
A plea hearing has not yet been finalized with the Circuit Clerk’s office.
Keep up with The West Virginia Daily News for more information on this story as it breaks.
