Tessa Hill, a 40-year-old woman, was found dead from a gunshot wound on Murdock Street in Princeton, West Virginia, just before 9 p.m. on August 10, 2019. Earlier that day an argument reportedly occurred between Hill and Darrell Wesley Hazelwood; later Hazelwood was seen pushing and arguing with Hill near her parents’ home. Hill’s boyfriend, Ronald Ferrell, intervened and fought with Hazelwood. After the altercation, Hazelwood produced a firearm and fired first at Ferrell and then at Hill, fatally wounding her.

Mercer County authorities arrested 47-year-old Darrell Wesley Hazelwood within an hour of the shooting and he was held without bail. Hazelwood was indicted for first-degree murder in October 2019 and went to a jury trial in August 2020, where the jury convicted him of second-degree murder. A post-trial motion arguing the evidence supported only voluntary manslaughter was denied and Hazelwood was sentenced to a determinate term of forty years. The conviction was later affirmed on appeal.

Were there witnesses who saw the moments just before the shooting or who can clarify the sequence of events that evening?