W.Va. man admits to fatally stabbing 13-year-old boy over stolen bicycle in 1985
02/16/2023 11:37 am PST
PRESTON COUNTY, W.Va. (TCD) -- A 56-year-old man reportedly confessed to fatally stabbing a 13-year-old boy over a stolen bicycle more than three decades ago.
According to a news release from the Preston County Sheriff’s Office, Jerimiah Watkins’ body was located in a shallow hole near railroad tracks in Terra Alta, West Virginia, on Nov. 12, 1985. An autopsy reportedly revealed Watkins died from a stab wound to his back.
Watkins was also hit in the head and suffered a brain bleed, WDTV-TV reports.
Detectives launched an investigation at the time, but efforts stalled due to law enforcement officials "helping countless families cope with the recent devastating flood."
However, this month, Preston County Sheriff’s Office Captain T.N. Tichnell reopened the case and noticed "a number of inconsistent statements made by Mr. David Monroe Adams."
Adams was interviewed multiple times and eventually "confessed that an argument that started over a stolen bicycle" escalated, and Adams allegedly hit Watkins in the face and brought him to a shed, where he fatally stabbed him. Afterward, he reportedly dragged Watkins’ body and dumped it in a shallow hole.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Adams was 18 years old at the time of the attack.
Adams was reportedly arrested and booked into the North Central Regional Jail for second-degree murder on $1 million bond.
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