Timothy Slayton was 41 and lived in Elkins, West Virginia. On the night of November 18, 2021, shortly before midnight, neighbors heard gunfire on Whiteman Avenue. When they opened their door, they found Slayton bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds; he told them he’d been shot. He was taken to Davis Medical Center and died soon after arrival.

Witnesses reported a gray truck leaving the area just before officers arrived. Slayton’s mother told police that a man named Heath Coberly had threatened her son with a firearm about a week earlier. Police located 48-year-old Heath Coberly at his home just after 1:00 a.m. on November 19 and found a truck matching the description, with a broken passenger-side window and a spent shell casing on the front seat. After being advised of his rights, Coberly allegedly admitted traveling to Slayton’s location and shooting him.

Coberly was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and held without bond. An additional charge alleged he tried to bring a controlled substance into the jail. In June 2022 a Randolph County grand jury returned an indictment charging murder and assault during the commission of a felony and the case was proceeding through the courts. Anyone who knew Timothy or saw a gray truck near Whiteman Avenue that night is asked to come forward with information.