Gavin Smith accepted a binding plea agreement after an appeals court overturned the convictions returned at his first trial.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia man who killed his mother, stepfather and two younger brothers when he was 16 has been sentenced to life in prison plus 80 years, ending a prosecution that included a jury trial, an overturned verdict and plans for a second trial.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard imposed the negotiated sentence July 6 after Gavin Blaine Smith, now 22, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder. The binding agreement resolved the case before prosecutors and defense attorneys returned to court for another trial over the December 2020 killings at the family’s home near Elkview. Smith also waived important legal rights under the agreement, including his right to appeal the new convictions and sentence.

The sentence formally closes the trial-court case more than five years after the victims were found. Smith admitted killing his mother, Risa Mae Saunders, 39; his stepfather, Daniel Dale Long, 37; his 12-year-old brother, Gage Ripley; and his 3-year-old brother, Jameson Long. The sentence includes a life term for the first-degree murder conviction and additional prison terms totaling 80 years for the three second-degree murder convictions. Some elements of the negotiated punishment are structured to run at the same time, while others run one after another.

The agreement followed Smith’s June 22 guilty pleas and removed the uncertainty of another jury proceeding. His original convictions had been vacated by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in June 2025 because jurors received improper information about punishment and parole eligibility. The high court did not rule that the evidence was insufficient or declare Smith innocent. Instead, it found that an error in the instructions given during the first trial could have affected the jury’s decision and required that the case be tried again. The killings occurred Dec. 9, 2020, at the family’s Cemetery Road home in the Elkview area of Kanawha County. Smith’s grandfather, Timothy Saunders, went to the house several days later after becoming concerned because he could not reach the family. He found the four victims inside and contacted authorities. Investigators determined that all four had died from gunshot wounds. Smith was not at the home when his grandfather arrived, prompting officers to begin looking for him.

Authorities later located Smith at the home of his then-girlfriend’s grandmother in Clendenin. Investigators said he had been hiding on the third floor and was found behind a hanging dress. Court records described physical and digital evidence that prosecutors intended to use against him. The records said blood associated with his younger brothers was detected on his clothing. Detectives also reviewed thousands of pages of Facebook communications between Smith and his girlfriend, Rebecca Lynn Walker, including messages prosecutors said connected Smith to the deaths.

Walker was 17 when the killings occurred. She was initially charged in connection with the case but later entered a binding agreement in which she pleaded guilty to four counts of being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. The murder charges she originally faced were dismissed, and she received an aggregate 10-year prison sentence. Her agreement required her to cooperate with prosecutors and testify truthfully in proceedings against Smith.

At Smith’s 2022 trial, Walker told jurors she was communicating with him by video and text around the time of the killings. She testified that she encouraged him to carry out the plan and later tried to protect him from police. She also said Smith was angry because his parents would not allow the couple to see each other. Her account became a major part of the prosecution’s case, along with testimony from detectives about the electronic messages and evidence collected from the home.

A Kanawha County jury convicted Smith in December 2022 of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one firearm offense. Ballard later sentenced him to three consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole, 40 years for second-degree murder and 10 years for using a firearm during a felony. Because Smith was younger than 18 at the time of the crimes, West Virginia law prevented the court from imposing a life-without-parole sentence on the first-degree murder counts.

The appeal that erased those verdicts centered on information jurors heard about Smith’s possible punishment. During Walker’s testimony, defense attorneys questioned her about the severe sentence she avoided by accepting her plea agreement. That questioning led to discussion of the penalty for first-degree murder. The trial court eventually told jurors that Smith, because he was a juvenile at the time of the offenses, would become eligible for parole after serving 15 years if convicted of first-degree murder. The state Supreme Court concluded that the instruction improperly introduced sentencing consequences into the jury’s determination of guilt. In its June 9, 2025, opinion, the court said jurors generally should not be told about possible penalties or parole when their job is to decide whether the state proved the charges. The justices found the mistake prejudicial under the circumstances, vacated all of Smith’s convictions and the sentencing order, and sent the case back to Kanawha County for a new trial.

That decision restored Smith’s presumption of innocence and forced prosecutors to prepare the case again, even though a jury had already heard the evidence and returned guilty verdicts. Witnesses faced the prospect of testifying a second time, while relatives of the victims faced another public review of the killings. Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak said the family’s desire for a final resolution was an important factor in the decision to negotiate a binding plea agreement rather than proceed to another jury.

The revised charges produced a different combination of convictions from the original verdict. Smith pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in one death and second-degree murder in the other three. The agreement nevertheless provided a life term plus decades of additional imprisonment. Because the agreement was binding, the judge’s acceptance of the pleas also fixed the sentence rather than leaving the final punishment open for a later contested hearing.

Rusnak said after sentencing that the resolution brought relief to prosecutors and the victims’ relatives because it eliminated the possibility that the case would return for a third trial after another appeal. Smith’s waiver of appellate rights was central to that finality. Although limited post-conviction proceedings may exist under law in some circumstances, the ordinary direct appeal that followed his first trial is not available under the terms he accepted.

The life-plus-80-year sentence does not mean Smith is legally barred from ever requesting release. Because he was a juvenile when he committed the crimes, he will become eligible for parole consideration after serving 15 years. Eligibility does not guarantee release. The West Virginia Parole Board would decide whether he should remain incarcerated after reviewing the applicable record and standards. Prosecutors have said they intend to oppose his release and hope he remains imprisoned for the rest of his life.

The court also recommended that Smith serve his sentence at Mount Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County. The recommendation is not a final placement order because the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation controls where state prisoners are housed. With the guilty pleas accepted, the sentence imposed and the right to a direct appeal waived, no second murder trial is scheduled.

Author note: Last updated July 31, 2026.