Jonathan Eric Chenoweth, 48, was shot and killed on March 27, 2023, in the Chenoweth Creek area near Elkins, West Virginia, after a neighborhood dispute that began over a dog and escalated into gunfire. Deputies found Chenoweth unresponsive on or inside a side-by-side utility vehicle in a driveway; investigators later reported seven shots were fired and Chenoweth was struck five times. Initial law enforcement accounts said Chenoweth was not armed.

The person accused in the shooting was identified as Stephen Ray Cross, a nearby resident. Cross was taken into custody after contacting 911 by phone. He was originally charged with second-degree murder, later indicted on one count of murder and one felony count for use or presentation of a firearm during a felony, and pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors raised self-defense as their conclusion in 2024, and after appellate action the state’s uncontested motion to dismiss was ultimately allowed; the criminal case closed without a conviction.

Chenoweth was described in his obituary as a husband and father, survived by his wife, Buffy Channell, his son Justin Chenoweth, and his daughter Katelynn Chenoweth Cool. Does anyone in the Chenoweth Creek area have information about the neighborhood dispute or the events of March 27, 2023?