On Thursday, October 23, 2025, 34-year-old Jill Howell of Prestonsburg was found dead inside a home on East Back Street in McDowell, Kentucky. Kentucky State Police responded to a report of an unresponsive female and discovered Howell with what was determined to be a fatal gunshot wound. The Floyd County Coroner pronounced her dead at the scene, and her body was taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.

Kentucky State Police have opened a death investigation and are treating the shooting as a homicide; preliminary findings indicate a single gunshot wound caused her death. As of the initial reports, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly identified. The investigation remains ongoing.

Did anyone in the McDowell or Prestonsburg area see or hear anything on October 23 that could help investigators?