W.Va. man pleads in slaying

September 28, 1998|By DAVE McMILLION

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A Ranson, W.Va., man who was charged in the shooting death of a Virginia man last year outside John Brown Elks Club along U.S. 340 south pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Friday, according to court officials.

Warren Taylor Jr., 22, of Apple Tree Gardens, also pleaded guilty to third-offense domestic battery, which stemmed from a separate case, according to Jefferson County Circuit Court records.

An emotional Taylor made the plea in Circuit Court. He faces up to 40 years in prison for the murder charge and one to five years in prison for the domestic battery violation, court officials said.

Taylor was accused of killing Kim Flynn, 32, of Front Royal, Va., who was shot while sitting in a car that was leaving the Elks Club parking lot on Nov. 14. The shooting occurred after an argument between Flynn and another person, according to court records. The argument occurred when Flynn and another person bumped into each other at the club, court records said.

According to police, Flynn was sitting in the front passenger seat of a rented 1997 Pontiac Grand Am as it was pulling out of the parking lot of the Elks Club on U.S. 340, south of Charles Town, at about 2:10 a.m.

Police said Flynn was in the car with two friends, including the driver and a back seat passenger. Neither of them was hit, police said.

A man fired a gun once and another man tried to restrain him; then, three more shots were fired into the car, court records said.

Police said a shot was fired through the passenger window as the car was moving. Flynn was hit in the chest. The driver drove him to Jefferson Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:24 a.m., three minutes after he arrived, police said.

The domestic battery charge against Taylor stemmed from an earlier incident on Eagle Avenue in Charles Town, court records said. A woman complained that a man grabbed her, tore her shirt and pants, and told her that he would pay someone to kill her if she told anyone about the incident, said court records.

Taylor originally was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, wanton endangerment with a firearm, shooting at another person in a place of public resort and third-offense domestic battery, according to court records.

Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced in November.

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