CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A teenager charged in the January 30th murder of a Charleston tobacco shop attendant could face up to life in prison.
Bre’jaun Williams-Hampton, 14, of Charleston pled guilty to the first degree felony murder of Caden Martin, 19, of Dunbar. Hampton was charged with first degree murder after he and another juvenile came into Tobacco and Pipe on 7th Avenue in Charleston and gunned down Martin on Jan. 30 during what was initially an armed robbery.
He went before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers Monday. 
“You do understand clearly that you will be sentenced or may be sentenced to the penitentiary for the rest of your natural life with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years,” Akers said, addressing Williams Hampton in court Monday.
Since Williams-Hampton is still a juvenile, it was determined that he will be parole eligible after 15 years.
Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak said that once the first parole hearing is had, they will have them every three years if the first is denied.
Rusnak said however, that due to the nature of the crime, the decision was made to transfer the case over to adult status after it was evaluated Williams-Hampton was competent to stand trial.
“When you step back and you really evaluate the circumstances, you are dealing with an individual who has displayed the most violent of all behaviors,” she said.
Recorded surveillance video captured at Tobacco and Pipe shows two suspects wearing masks and robbing the store. After the robbery was complete, it shows one suspect, determined to be Williams-Hampton raising a gun and firing two shots in Martin’s direction.
After missing the first time, evidence showed that the second shot brought Martin to the ground.
When Judge Akers asked Williams-Hampton why he killed Martin, he responded with he didn’t know.
Rusnak said it was heartbreaking to hear such a response considering the devastating magnitude the case carries with it.
“We know that a life has been lost and there is no reason, there is no justification,” she said. “I don’t know if it would have mattered if he did it because he did it, but at the end of the day I’m certain it would have given the family some peace of mind for the reasoning as to why.”
Rusnak said the case is considered felony murder as it was a murder committed under the commission of a felony itself– in this case, armed robbery.
She said this was the best possible outcome in a case of this nature.
“There is no great outcome here, we are dealing with a situation where a life was lost and another life was changed forever, and the families of those individuals will always be impacted, and they will have to figure out how to move forward from here,” said Rusnak.
Williams-Hampton will be sentenced on October 23rd at 1:30 p.m.
The second teen involved in the case is Barack Williams, 14, who will also be tried as an adult. He is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
The 14 year old’s were also involved in two other violent crimes that happened around the same time as the tobacco store incident.