Kearneysville woman accused of shooting husband freed on bond

November 24, 2009|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A woman accused of shooting her husband last month after she reportedly learned he had removed her as a beneficiary of his insurance policy was released from jail Monday.

Flor Demaria Slone, 41, of Kearneysville, was released on $25,000 bond and placed on home confinement. She was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to surrender her passport as part of the terms of her release from Eastern Regional Jail.

Slone is charged with malicious assault in the shooting of Stephen K. Slone, who was shot in the chest Oct. 21 at his home at 5409 Winchester Ave. in Inwood, W.Va.

Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Greg Jones asked Wilkes to set a $100,000 bond, arguing that Slone was a flight risk and had few ties to the community.

Slone originally was charged with kidnapping and malicious assault and was being held without bond. Berkeley County Magistrate JoAnn Overington, however, did not find probable cause in a preliminary hearing last week to allow prosecution of the kidnapping charge to continue and it was dropped. The ruling prompted the bond petition hearing Monday.

Jones told Wilkes that he disagreed with the magistrate's ruling, but the judge said his decision to set bond was limited to consideration of the malicious assault charge still pending against Slone.

Several people attended Slone's hearing Monday, including a couple who agreed to support her with home confinement arrangements and a woman who said Slone was guaranteed a job in Winchester, Va., upon release.

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