By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Freeman revealed the results of a year-long investigation into the shooting death of Charles Echols III on Tuesday.
At a press conference, Freeman said the decision to perform an exhaustive investigation was the result of prior experience where a similar past domestic violence case his office investigated had an outcome very different from initial appearances.
“We decided to slow this investigation down to a crawl to obtain all the information that we could gather from all collateral sources, in an effort to — not prove that this was a justified shooting — but to disprove it, in hopes of ruling out any possibility that something nefarious had taken place.”
According to Freeman, the night of July 29, 2023, Echols traveled to a housing development outside of the White Hall area to the residence of his ex-girlfriend, Lee Ann Chacon. He arrived roughly after midnight on July 30. Echols learned Chacon had established a relationship with another man, Michael Costello. Freeman said Echols and Chacon had ended their relationship over a year previously, adding he was unsure if Chacon’s home had been Echols’ official residence at one time or if Echols only stayed there from time to time. Echols no longer resided there on the night of the crime, and hadn’t for a year.
Echols’ arrival surprised Chacon and Costello, Freeman said. Echols tried to enter through the front door but after finding no success, he used an old garage code which Chacon hadn’t updated.
