Kevin Clark ’KC’ Thompson Jr. was 26 when he was fatally shot outside the Paden City home of Jessica Dawn Quinn on June 8, 2015. Emergency responders found Thompson with a gunshot wound to the abdomen; he was taken to Wetzel County Hospital and died several hours later. West Virginia State Police classified the shooting as a homicide and identified Quinn as the person who fired the fatal shot.

Initial accounts said Quinn told investigators Thompson had entered her home and she fired a .45-caliber handgun because she feared for her children. Investigators later developed a different account: Quinn’s uncle, Steven Quinn, confronted Thompson on the back porch after mistaking him for a man who had recently assaulted Jessica Quinn. Witnesses and the criminal complaint said Thompson was unarmed and not acting aggressively; a companion said they had brought firewood, and police found wood in Thompson’s vehicle. Quinn admitted she fired the shot and was arrested; she was indicted on murder and wanton endangerment and pleaded not guilty in September 2015.

The grand jury indictment and subsequent proceedings moved toward trial while forensic and psychological evaluations were awaited. Quinn later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and wanton endangerment on July 20, 2016, under a plea agreement, and sentencing arguments took place in October 2016 with competing descriptions of whether the shooting was panic-driven or an unjustified killing. Did anyone in Paden City know Thompson or see him at Jessica Quinn’s home that evening?