A Pounding Mill man has been found guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting death of a Mercer County, W.Va., woman.
The jury did not recommend mercy.
John Aaron Norton, 31, faced multiple charges, including murder, after a gunshot he allegedly fired through a home’s front door in Princeton, W.Va., fatally wounded Jessica “Jessie” Smith.
Norton will be sentenced at a later date, said Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney David Pfeifer.
The incident began on a February Friday night around 9:30 p.m. when Smith called Mercer County 911 and reported that she heard three gunshots near her residence.
“Multiple Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and West Virginia State Police units responded to the residence, securing the perimeter and evacuating neighbors,” the criminal complaint said. “Jessica Smith and her family were in the residence directly across from the residence the man was shooting from.”
As Jessica Smith, Roy Smith and their two children were in the process of evacuating their home, Norton “fired two more rounds … through the front door of the residence toward Jessica Smith’s residence. One round traveled through the front door, then through the kitchen window of Jessica Smith’s residence, as Jessica Smith was standing in front of the window. The round struck her in the chest, causing her death.”
Norton was arrested after a standoff which lasted several hours.
Norton was previously convicted in Virginia on Aug. 17, 2021, for a felony offense involving a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance. Norton had also been served a domestic violence petition in Tazewell County.
